


The Restoration

by aMnesIA214



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-12
Updated: 2019-03-01
Packaged: 2019-05-05 23:25:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 32,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14629223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aMnesIA214/pseuds/aMnesIA214
Summary: Hope has been lost. No one expects to leave, but they are afraid. Afraid to live and even more to die. There are few who still want to try to make things.. Livable.But with the arrival of a new survivor comes with new problems that can or can't be resolved.





	1. Awakening

It was cold, to say the least. There was very little about what he was feeling that could be explained with words. But the cold was one of the few words he could use. Cold and floaty? Although He had to admit that floaty wasn’t the word for it. It was like standing up too quickly. When you feel dizzy, but then you suddenly feel as though you have an out of body experience. And right now one thing was certain. 

It could damn well be an out of body experience. 

Now, it wasn’t until he had felt his feet hit the solid ground that he knew it was not. He opened his eyes to see himself on a farm. A home in the center, with a shack in the distance, and some farm equipment lying abandoned. Since it looked to be rusted and overgrown in some areas. There was also a cornfield, and he was not surprised at all. Not in the slightest. After all, he was in a farming state. 

The only thing he had noticed about the area, was how gloom it felt. How gloom it looked if he was being honest with himself. There wasn’t much he was going to make himself admit to since he was more than likely ready to offer some money for a room and maybe a hot meal and a shower. 

He had begun walking towards the home in the center of the fenced off area, he presumed there must be more farmland or even farm animals beyond it. But as he drew nearer, he noticed something off about the home. There were no doors for one, and the home was in disrepair. This was certainly odd. Most other farmers had their home looking hospitable for people of his kind. Maybe he didn’t want to stay here. After all, it wouldn’t be his first time sleeping against a fence, a tree, or in a roadside ditch because of some creeps. 

So he turned around and began to walk along the fenced areas. Surely there would be some sort of opening. Right? After walking for about a full two minutes, he came upon a box with a lever on it. Maybe sometimes the people let their animals come in from time to time. So he pulled the latch down, only to have it spark out at him. He grunted in displeasure. 

He sighed and turned around looking back towards the home. He would hate to talk to the owner who apparently gave no fucks about their home. With no other opening or gate door, it seemed like the only plausible option. 

As he began making his way towards the house, there were a pair of eyes on him. Ones that made no attempt for contact, assuming there would be an easy kill, and began to seamlessly put down traps.

He walked quietly up the stairs to the home and stopped at the door frame. Perhaps he would lessen his chances of getting run off the property if he was polite. And so he was. He knocked on the door frame three times. He felt that was enough to catch the homeowners attention. After all, this place seemed so quiet and peaceful that the owner probably didn’t even get that many visitors. 

It wasn’t until another minute that he began to grow irritated. Maybe he should just go in? At this thought, he began to hear a heartbeat. He was this nervous? He took a step into the home and slowly made his way around it. The floors were slightly creaky and there was a certain atmosphere about the home. 

He then heard a strange noise. What was this sound? He looked up and followed it, his heartbeat still beating in his ears. Up the stairs and to the right room he went. He followed the way out of the room, and to a balcony, where he noticed a large machine. It was pumping slightly and he was unsure of what to make of it. He walked closer to it and saw an individual with glasses and a white button-up shirt with a tie. 

He waved to catch the males attention, only to startle the guy. The guy sighed relieved and smiled slightly at the guy motioning for him to follow. 

He cocked his head to the side in a questioning manner. What was the matter? He wanted to ask. But when he opened his mouth to speak, nothing came out. He reached up to his throat and held it there with a concerned look on his face. Surely his voice wasn’t gone? What was-

The guy with the glasses put a finger on his own throat, shook his head, and beckoned him further as he began to squat down. 

He was confused, it wasn’t until the other guy fully ran towards him did he react to anything he was doing. He tried to move back, but he felt himself being pushed forward as the glasses guy ran past him and with his outstretched arm, pushed him forward. He caught himself from falling and turned around to scold the man, only to be met with the glasses guy bleeding profusely, with another man above him. He was huge and had a mask on his face. With metal shards protruding from his shoulders and back. 

The larger man tilted his head and raised his weapon stepping forward. Hitting him as he was too scared to move. What could he really do? He felt immense pain down his front. But he didn’t fall. He didn’t even falter his stoic stance. He shook his head and took the glasses guys lead in running around the large man. Running for his life he supposed. 

He still heard his heartbeat in his ears and it wasn’t until he saw the leader pointing him to his immediate right that he felt distracted. Go right? That’s fine. He thought to himself. He hitched right as he heard the air beside him slice. He nearly screamed. Well, as much as he really could. Which he now knew was nothing at all besides a moan of pain. The heartbeat began to subside as he finally turned to look around him. No one in sight. Until another person stepped in front of him from behind rolls of hay. Thank God. 

He stepped towards the person, but they only beckoned him to his immediate left. Where he heard the crunching and clicking. He followed the person who was a female this time. A black woman with black hair, glasses, and a light pink shirt on. He followed her and sure enough, there was another person. An older man who wore a full suit with a ball hat and sunglasses. Strange outfit for such an occasion. He thought to himself. But it was the first thought he had that wasn’t a question. There were so many, but he had lost his voice. What could this possibly mean? Had his vocal cords been surgically removed by a black market dealer? Well, he shouldn’t be surprised. After all, sleeping in roadside ditches could lead people to believe that he was dead. And often meant weirdos trying to do weird things to him. 

Maybe this was a dream? He has had strange dreams before. He was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt the woman beginning to touch him. He jumped back startled. Why was she touching him? The woman simply held up a first aid kit and motioned to his front. He made an ‘oh’ face and nodded letting her do what she needed. Whatever she poured onto his skin, it burned. Whatever she was wiping the blood off with, stung like hell. It wasn’t until he felt this pain that he noticed the one thing that confirmed what happened. Blood. A lot of blood. 

He scrunched his nose in disgust. Despite his time on the road, he never allowed himself to be filthy. This is absolutely disgusting. He thought to himself as he pushed away from the girl, who now had wrapping bandages in her hands. He took off his jacket and placed it beside him. He then stripped off his shirt tossing it far away. His hands were still bloody as well as his jacket, but only slightly. He was mostly cleaned off. He looked towards the girl and she simply stood there looking away. Once she realized he was done she began to wrap him in some bandages. Once she was done, since it had to be a quick job, he put on his jacket and zipped it up. 

The machine that the guy with the hat was working on flashed brightly. It was so bright that even without looking at it, he had to look in the opposite direction. But he was forcefully tugged along by the woman. Which he had no reason to not follow her, but he then realized there was a thundering heartbeat. Was it not his own? After all, he had been attacked by some masked guy. But no that wasn’t it. 

The three ran off as quickly as they could but between the three of them, the guy wanted to chase him. Which was understandable. He had learned on the road that once an animal had a taste for blood, it was nearly impossible to stray its mind somewhere else. He ran into the corn and looked around for anywhere he could hide or somewhere to shake off this crazed man. So far he saw the house. Which made sense, maybe he could lose him upstairs. He booked it to the house, hearing the air swipe again. He noticed a plank leaning on a small fence. Something urged him to drop it, so he did. He heard a sound of shock and then stomping. Then the board broke. 

But he kept running inside the home. He ran upstairs and hid behind one of the piles of garbage. It wasn’t until the guy had followed upstairs that he noticed a red light from the guys faces. Must be to help him see. He slowly crept around the other side of where the guy was walking. Making sure to keep his footsteps quiet and making sure to stay out of his line of sight. Once the guy stalked around the corner, he ran back to the stairs. He made his way out of the house and into the corn again, hoping the guy did not see him. 

It wasn’t until he made it to some half broken buildings that he heard the clicking again. Someone was nearby. He ran to the sound and saw the guy with the glasses. He walked over slowly as to not startled him again. The glasses guy noticed and beckoned him over once more. He began to point out how to fix this machine. Why? Well, he wasn’t sure why the guy with glasses was teaching him. Was this... was this some sort of game? His eyes widened at the thought. He felt a hand on his shoulder and could feel the sympathetic look cast upon him. How dreadful. 

They both finished up the generator with only one or two problems. Maybe because this person was so helpful. It was then that he felt himself being pulled to the same door he had come from. But only, the lever was blinking a red. The man pulled it down and it began to light up. 

But as quick as the process was, he heard the heartbeat growing from a small flutter to again a loud and thundering one. He turned around watching the guy walk towards him. The other guy hadn’t seemed to notice the guy was this close or maybe he couldn't bring himself to care. And he had to do something. The man with the glasses had saved him before. 

With newfound bravery, he began walking towards the monstrous man. The man seemed indifferent to who he could apparently kill. He ran off to the side of the man and heard the air slice. He was lucky to not have gotten hit with how close the weapon got to him. He took off behind the killer, seeing the bright red light behind him. Hopefully, the door would be open. He felt another slash, and this time, he felt pain. He groaned but kept running around in a sort of circle. 

Finally, he heard a loud alarm and creaking of a door. He looked behind him and saw the guy with glasses motioning for him with the other two behind him. He smiled and made his way over to them. But he then felt another stroke of pain over his back. He groaned in disarray but continued to run. By the time he made it to the others, the killer had stalked off, knowing he had lost his prey. 

The group walked away through the brick entrance and through the fog. It was empty. Nothing could really be seen for miles. But the others continued as if it was a normal occurrence. 

“Sorry I wasn’t more prepared. I wasn’t aware the entity was bringing in another survivor.” He looked over to see the guy with the glasses and tie looking sheepish. Embarrassed. He raised an eyebrow. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, you’re trapped here forever in a game, technically speaking, ” Said the man with sunglasses. He had a lopsided grin as he pointed a thumb at himself, “I’m Ace. You are?” 

“A game? What do you mean game? Like LARP? Ah, I’m not too much into that sort of thing. But uh, could you tell me where I am? Last I checked I was in-“ 

“Son,” the man with the sunglasses started, “this isn’t a normal place. You are here forever.” 

“What-“ 

“Hey listen. We can talk back at the campfire. I can heal you up, and Dwight here can tell you all you need to know.” The woman finally piped up. He wondered what on Earth she could be talking about. There was nothing for miles. But upon looking He then sighed contently as he saw a campfire ahead. Not even questioning the assortment of trees and tall grass around them. 

The woman, he now knew as Claudette, was patching him up. As it seemed, simply amazing that he was able to take a second hit. Which was a surprise to him since it was so painful that he couldn’t understand taking one hit and living? 

“Well,” Dwight began, “the entity, we suppose it is the God of this world, takes people from the real world. He also takes killers from the real world and makes them kill us. To sacrifice us to him. Our job is to simply survive.” He seemed real fidgety and had to pull his hand from his mouth so he wouldn’t bite his nails. It seemed odd that this man seemed the sort of leader. “Oh! We hadn’t even asked your name, uh,”

“Hm? Oh. It’s Lorenzo. Lorenzo Cavero.”


	2. The Devil is Near

There was plenty of questions Lorenzo's had. Why such a gruesome game like this? Why use a game period if the Entity could control people to kill or even simply give them powers? Why not simply have normal people kill themselves from the real world? 

Most importantly Lorenzo thought about how Dwight described the Entity. God. Where did this ’God’ come from? Thinking about it, Lorenzo did not think of this Entity as a God. Even if he didn't worship it. The entity was a demon. And depending on how the others described it, the Entity might be a Devil. 

Lorenzo had thought of this as the others began poking and prodding at him. Asking him how he had brought a couple of bags full of treasures, as they put it. But most importantly a backpack full of the simplest of toiletries. Mostly hair gel, a brush, shampoo/conditioner mix, perfume, and several changes of shirts, jeans, and hoodies. They had only known this because the Devil had taken Lorenzos stuff and dropped it off by the campfire. 

It was initially Jake who noticed it, but Meg had pushed to open all its treasures. She had thought it was a reward from the Devil for surviving. A reward? Are there rewards for not getting sacrificed? 

“So why were there so many things on your person? Like Jake has some stuff and some of the others, but you’re literally carrying an entire fuckin house!” Meg had started in on him while the others behind him were chatting amongst themselves about how it was a shame they had no water for a bath. Or at least it seemed, a while before they were allowed to an area with water. 

“Ah well that had to do with my life before this? I was trying to get back to my hometown from California.” Lorenzo brought a hand up to his chin and got lost in thought. My life before this? Is that what this is called? This is my life regardless. I’m... not dead... am I? He thought to himself. “I didn’t die, did I?” He blurted out. 

Meg, who was literally a half a foot away from him, looked taken back. “We wouldn’t know. Each of us has different stories. I was just jogging through the woods, I don’t remember after that. Dwight was hiking back to his town after being abandoned, Feng-“ 

“Hey! Our business is not yours to tell Meg.” Said the Chinese woman known as Feng. She crossed her arms obviously angry that Meg would just openly talk about other people’s lives. One that Feng herself was not proud of. 

“Sorry, I was just letting Lorenzo know. I mean, he did kinda ask.” 

“Lets just not start a fight over it, please? There is still a lot we need to teach him before he gets sent back!” Claudette started in. She grabbed Meg's arm and pulled her away. Feng simply glanced over Lorenzo with a judgmental glare before wandering off to her own area of the campfire. Which wasn’t too far. 

Dwight sighed as he frowned. Obviously displeased with how the others were acting. “I’m sorry about that. Some people don’t care to relive their past.” 

“You were abandoned in the woods?” Lorenzo could see an obvious shift in comfort from Dwight. It wasn’t something the other liked talking about. 

“Well I should start showing you what you should do when you get sent to the next trial. You were lucky to survive this one. I hope you will never have to feel the pain of being sacrificed, but that’s kinda impossible. So let’s start with-“ 

“You care a lot about people. Why is that? Meg doesn’t seem to be nice when she described your situation. Feng seems downright rude to everyone around her. You and Claudette are the only two who seem to really care.” Lorenzo blurted it out. He immediately felt bad, but he supposed it was something he picked up from his time in Cali. 

“Um. We don’t really talk about it. To be honest with you Lorenzo,” Dwight looked around to make sure no one was listening and turned back to him placing an arm on Lorenzo's shoulder, ”this is the only time you really can expect everyone to be talking and interacting with each other. Like, acting like people. For the next, uh, well there is no time here, so for a while. They'll be curious about you or your stuff or they may try to understand your abilities. After that they will simply ignore you until they can use you. You seem nice, so I figured I should let you know.” 

“So what do y’all do for fun? To pass this, incomprehensible time?” 

“Sleep. Do trials. Heck, we don’t need to even eat.” Dwight turned away from Lorenzo facing the campfire. Missing the taste of a good cheese pizza. Heck, he would give anything for a taste of just the tomato sauce his place used to use. 

“What?!” At this, the whole camp looked over at Lorenzo, clearly confused as to what Dwight told him. “Y’all don’t eat? What kinda hell is this?” This baffles the other survivors. Most hadn’t even thought about eating since their life before. For some, that was a long time ago. 

“Well, no. The entity has below basic understanding of humans. It doesn’t know we had to eat before we came here. That’s the only logical reason. I mean, no one here has ever died of starvation. Even when they’ve survived a number of trials in a row.” Everyone nodded in agreement. They simply never felt hungry. The entity only knew pain and suffering was what it wanted. And it would get what it wants. 

“Holy hell alright. Give me a minute I gotta try this.” Lorenzo walked over to his stuff and inside one of the smaller, and unopened bags, he pulled out an opened box of granola bars. "What would happen if we do eat I wonder?" He pulled one out and tossed the box to the nearest person. Who happened to be a thin and very tired looking individual Lorenzo, after a bit, knew as Quentin. He simply held the box looking uncomfortable. 

Lorenzo opened the bar from its wrapper and took a bite of it. "Tastes the same and I haven't exploded, so seems fine. Thank God!" After he swallowed but didn’t feel the satisfaction of being filled up. “But it is interesting. Seems like we can eat, but I'm not feeling any sort of satisfied or full. Interesting indeed.” He took another bite and handed the other half to Ace since the box didn't have many left in it. Lorenzo gestured the, want this? To Ace. He gladly took it and ate the rest. Obviously missing what he took for granted long ago. 

Everyone began to gather around Quentin taking the bars and breaking them apart. They savored the flavor, enjoyed the chewing gesture, and eating them slowly. They all had missed this simple thing they all had done before, but they all remember one thing. They all had taken it for granted. Just like showering with soap and using hair products. 

Lorenzo had walked back over to Dwight who stood away from the other survivors who were relishing from the taste of the granolas. Some even talked about the things they missed from their old life. “You know you can get one too. I always got plenty when I crossed into different towns.” 

Dwight chuckled as he watched the other survivors. “I’ve never seen this place buzzing. Hmm... I wonder..” 

“What?” 

“I wonder why the Entity would bring someone as lively as you here. Someone who seems capable of changing things. I haven't seen them like this in a long time.” 

“Probably to take my soul. Destroy it. That’s what a Devil does. But that devil won’t destroy anything of me. That I can promise you that Dwight.”  
-

After all was said and eaten, none of the bars left. But Dwight informed Lorenzo that usually anything the survivor spawned with would regenerate as soon as they were sacrificed. A morbid thought, but Lorenzo simply shrugged it off thinking about the many things messed up about the place. 

“So what’s out there? You know around the campfire. Are the killers there?” 

“Well,” Dwight lifted a hand to his mouth to chew on his nails, thinking about how he would answer, “there are theories as to what does. It is mostly accepted that it’s just the other realms. The locations we try to survive on. And beyond that is where the killers live. Just like us. But there is a loophole in that theory. Meg is an athlete. Whenever she feels like, she gets up and runs away from the campfire. She claims that she can run in a straight line, and she would return to the campfire. But on the opposite side, she would run. Why do you think?” 

“It would have to be a small world for her to run around it.” Lorenzo leaned forward from sitting with his back against the log and hunched over his lap. “That or The Devil would have to be watching y’all closely to make sure Y'all don’t run into something Y'all shouldn’t.”

“Exactly. That is what other people think. The Entity prevents us from roaming too far to either avoid killers locations. But it is its own world.” 

Lorenzo looked up at Dwight who was sitting on the tree. He noticed Dwight seemed to be staring solemnly into the fire. He raised an eyebrow. “Have experience or proof?” There is when he noticed Dwight shift in discomfort. 

“Would you like to learn how to heal other people? Or to fix Generators? I can help you with the generators, anyone else can teach you about patching people up, but Claudette is the best.” 

“Alright, how can you teach me?” 

“That will be more of me telling you, and you trying in a trial.” 

Before Lorenzo opened his mouth, he saw a tear in the air. He stopped and stared at it. Is the group being separated? 

“That’s how the Entity will call you to the trial. Watch.” 

That he did. He watched Bill, Feng, David, and Quentin get up with no other words and enter the tear. It closed as soon as Quentin was through. Lorenzo rubbed his eyes and raised his eyebrows in shock. Such magic had to be the work of a Devil. He turned to Dwight and meant to ask a question, but saw that he was looking away sadly. 

“What?” 

“Everyone has their own way to survive or to play this game. That isn’t a great combination of people.”

“Oh? How do they survive?” 

“Its best that I dont fill your head with my own biased opinion. Best learned from experience. Anyways with the generators, you have to-“ 

While Lorenzo was listening, he was also thinking about very different things. Dwight was preparing him, but he couldn’t focus well. There was so much that apparently needed to be learned by experience. He nodded when Dwight asked if he understood. Dwight didn’t seem to really notice that he was lost in his own explanation. 

“Hey Dwight? Why does the Devil know we need to sleep, but not to eat? Is it really some all-knowing Beast? Or does it make y’all believe it does?”

Dwight chuckled lightly, shaking his head he spoke. “No, we don’t sleep cause we need to. It’s just the quickest way to pass the ‘time’. We don’t really get tired as in, we need to sleep. We are just dwindling on our..humanity I would guess. We are just tired of this endless torture. It’s the only time we know we won’t be.” 

Lorenzo nodded in understanding. Though he really didn’t. Was it really just easier for this Devil to deprive the human body of it necessary needs? It seems like more work to deprive them of these needs. Things that might actually make them juicier as a sacrifice. Was he really trying to almost justify what makes a good and bad sacrifice? 

Again there was a tear in the air, everyone turned their heads to it as they watched Nea, Ace, and Jake got up and walked through it. They looked around for the fourth survivor entering the trial. They all turned their eyes to Lorenzo, who was hunched over on the ground with his arms wrapped around himself. Yep. It was time. 

Dwight kneeled next to him and pulled him into a sitting position. “You’re being called. It’s best not to keep the Entity waiting.” 

Lorenzo couldn’t even speak, and he could hardly walk. But he managed. He felt the eyes of everyone on him as he entered the tear. Not really expecting how quickly the pain subsided. It was there, but not enough for him to double over like he was. The pain was still there when the fog enveloped around all four of them. 

The Devil was among them.


	3. Making an Enemy

It was a very messy hospital indeed. There was grass growing nearly everywhere, there was dirty hooks everywhere, and it did not help that the first thing Lorenzo saw, was piles and piles of garbage. But he could admit his excitement upon seeing another beside him. He smiled at the Asian man beside him. 

Jake only looked at him and nodded his head down the long hospital hall. Lorenzo looked at him confused. Wasn’t the objective to start working on generators? There was one no more than a foot from them. Jake simply shook his head, pointed to his heart and patted. 

The killer, 

Jake then pointed to his ears.

The killer will hear,

He gestured to the both of them.

The killer will hear us, 

Then he slit his throat. 

The killer will hear us and kill us. 

He pointed again and began to walk slowly and cautiously. Lorenzo followed him after he was finished thinking about that gruesome sight. He remembered when Dwight mentioned he was lucky to be spared being sacrificed. That it wasn’t luck he wouldn’t have forever even though Dwight prayed he wouldn’t ever be sacrificed. Lorenzo didn’t want to ever feel such pain but from what it seemed like, it was something he would need to. 

Lorenzo began to hear a heartbeat and crouched down behind Jake as he was already doing the same and looking around the corner. Lorenzo turned his head and looked around behind them. The heartbeat began to grow as did Lorenzo’s fear. He had to hold himself from getting up and running. But the heartbeat began to subside, as did Lorenzo’s fear. 

He followed Jake as they both began to walk down the hall further. They eventually ran into another generator. Jake pointed at it as he began to walk away. Lorenzo looked at the generator, then at Jake. Wouldn’t it be faster with two people? So he reached out and grabbed ahold of Jakes sleeve, much to Jakes dismay. He turned around and looked at Lorenzo with a blank stare. 

Lorenzo gestured to the generator and then to the two of them. Jake shook his head as he pointed to one of the hooks, then made a breaking motion with his hands. Lorenzo made an ‘O’ shape and turned around to mess with the generator. The only problem was, he had no idea how to actually fix it. When Dwight was trying to tell him, he zoned out. He was listening without really listening. Shit. 

Well how hard could it be? He crouched down to the generators height and began to poke and prod at the latches and stuff inside. There were things that were obvious. Like the gears being completely knocked off their original places. Lorenzo found them inside and began to place the right sizes where the other one was. Once the last one was out on there, he noticed that the pistons began to pump slowly. He smiled as he grabbed ahold of the black rubber rope and placed it around three wheels that were sure to spin. It started to slowly grow in progress. 

Lorenzo had been so focused that when he heard a loud ‘thump-ing’ he jumped back on his rear. The generator sparked since he was working with the wires. He began to hear a heart beat again. He looked to Jake for guidance, but he was already gone. 

He had stood up and ran out of the doors as a red stain appeared through the other door. He wasn’t much paying attention to his surroundings. But he did feel the someone looking at him. He knew it was the killer. Afraid to look behind him, Lorenzo continued to run. He ran to a couple of pallets and threw them down, but he could not shake the killer for the life off him. 

Finally he saw someone, they were ducking behind one of the many hospital beds. He prayed that they would take the killer off of his back. That is all he needed. He really didn’t want to feel a machete slice through his back. But instead, he continued to run away. Why wasn’t the killer attacking? He turned his head to see a plain looking killer, but one he recognized immediately. He opened his mouth to scream, but he could not. 

Lorenzo continued to run, but he noticed three different colored humanoid shapes. One ahead of him crouched down, two that where crouched down and looked to be working on the generators. He looked behind him again and saw the killer continuing to follow him, but slowly. Was he going to kill him? 

He decided to stop and maybe face the killer head on. He had no other option since he couldn’t lose him. He turned to face the killer, and crossed his arms attempting to look angry. But he was afraid. Michael Myers, he had thought in his head as if he could talk about it, you are one son of a bitch. Fuck off wont ya? Unfortunately he wasn’t able to stand there anymore. He was pulled away from Michael. He turned to look at who grabbed him. Surely The Devil didn’t allow two killers at once? 

Instead he found it was Ace, who held himself with a calming and confident posture, but looked fearful as well. He turned to look behind him, and began to run further. Lorenzo followed him, being with someone was better than being alone at least. But then he hear Michael’s theme song. Fear crept into Lorenzo’s veins as he turned to see Michael right behind him with his kitchen knife raised. He brought it down against Lorenzo’s back, he groaned in pain as Ace looked behind him.

Ace was unsure of what he should do. Sure he thought Lorenzo was a cool guy, but he was bound to be sacrificed at some point. Besides, nine times out of ten, not even one person could survive Michael. He swallowed slowly as he pushed Lorenzo out into a hall and he ran another direction. Lorenzo watched Ace run the opposite direction from him, but soon kept his focus on where he was going. Michael was still chasing him. 

Lorenzo heard the other generators being done, and finished. But no one had come to get the psycho off of his back. He saw their colors running around, actively trying to avoid him. What was going on? Did they really not care if he survived? Lorenzo frowned. He was going to survive. Regardless if they were going to help him or not. He picked up his pace, running through pallets, windows, and up some stairs he had found in the center of the facility. 

Finally he heard a long high pitched ring, he looked around and watched the colors run to different locations. Two of them were to his right. But that seemed really far away. There was one figure to his left. It was really close. He turned right down a secondary hallway and followed it down. He was still limping due to the pain of the first hit from Myers, and it did not help that the floor was really unsteady. He was in a hurry to leave. He didn’t want to die. 

He turned left down the hallway and heard Myers groan. He turned his head to see he had hit the corner he turned past. Lorenzo sighed in relief. That was some time he could hurry to the exit. He rushed down the hallway, trying to keep himself from tripping on the over grown grass, broken pallet pieces, and cracked tile. He turned to see where Myers was, and he was right behind him. He opened his mouth and took a deep breath. Trying to usher himself faster, but only managed to trip over his own feet in his scurry. 

But wether or not it was luck or just a coincidence, Myers lunged to strike Lorenzo. He narrowly missed him as he had fallen to the ground. He groaned angrily since he had to catch himself from falling over Lorenzo’s fallen body. Lorenzo took this opportunity to hurry up and try to run away. 

He saw the other survivor waiting to see if anyone would come to them. He turned around the corner to the lobby area, and into the open area outside of it. Not bothering to look at them as he ran out of the gates. 

He did not stop running until he saw the glow of the campfire. He was breathing heavily, due to blood loss and running almost non stop. Dwight was the first one to notice him. He wasn’t smiling but looked relieved to see him. His facial expression changed to concern as soon as he realized Lorenzo was injured. 

“Here let me help you.” Dwight sat Lorenzo down on the log and left to grab some medical supplies from his stash. During this time Lorenzo stripped out of his jacket and rolled it up into a ball for him to hold onto. Just for the pain. 

“You didn’t have to do that you know.” Lorenzo glanced at Dwight as he kneeled behind Lorenzo. Tending to the large gash on his full bareback. 

“Well I hate to be filthy, and keeping it on would defeat the purpose of trying to make it better.” Lorenzo heard Dwight’s “ohh,” from behind him and almost chuckled. It sounded like he had learned the cure to cancer. So interested but very disconnected from the information. 

“So do you know who the killer was?”

“Myers. That creepy fuck.” 

Dwight chuckled as he began wrapping the bandages around Lorenzo’s torso. “Yeah, he can be a, yeah that.” Dwight tightened the bandages around Lorenzos torso and tapped his shoulder lightly. ”alright you are all good.” 

Lorenzo thanked Dwight and reached around for his bag with his clothes. He opened it and picked out a simple black shirt. He pulled it over himself as he took a seat next to Dwight like before. “Do you need a shirt man? I got plenty. Or would you like a jacket? I can not imagine having to stay in stained dirty clothing.”

Dwight chuckled. “I’m fine, it would just appear again once I get sacrificed. It’s no big deal. Before I came here, I actually had managed to get this dirty. So it isn’t this place that’s the problem.” 

“Oh. Alright. So what was your life before the Devil took you?” 

Dwight squirmed in his seat. Not that it was really comfortable, to begin with. But he didn’t always care to talk about his life before this. It was actually quite pathetic in his opinion. “So how did you manage to get away from Myers? He is usually troubled for all of us. Aside from the Trapper. Did you manage to hide the entire time? Was everyone else sacrificed?”

“Um, well,” 

“He did great, you should have seen him evading that stalking bastard.” Ace patted Lorenzo on his shoulder and took a seat next to him. “Just wanna say that I am sorry for pushing you away, but you know it goes right? But I will give it to you. You were always bringing Myers to me, even in places where Myers would never search. How? I must know.” 

“Well, I was always seeing colored apparitions. But it was only three, so I’m guessing it was Y'all? But how?” 

“Really? Interesting. Everyone here is given gifts based on their personality? We aren’t sure on them ourselves. But some people are able to do things quicker, taunt the killer, or do things without the aid of tools or kits. It might be the reason you’re able to take more hits. That may be a bonding or empathy sort of thing. Was anyone else injured?” Dwight had shot off like a bullet with the explanation. Gifts? Why? Why would the Devil help its prey try to escape with their gifts? But Lorenzo didn’t question it too much further. Since the Devil didn’t care that they all could eat before coming here. 

“No, Myers was on me the entire time.” 

“Amazing.. maybe it’s a chase thing. You see people, so you can keep the killer away. You are probably a sort of protector. So what’s your third thing I wonder? Oh, this is so cool.” 

“Hey, Dwight lets give Lorenzo some time to rest.” Claudette had stepped in obviously hearing Dwight’s enthusiasm grow. Usually with his enthusiasm came endless conversation. “This was only his second match after all.” 

“Oh come on Claudette. You should know by now that just Dwight will let you baby him, doesn’t mean you can baby everyone else.” Lorenzo cast a look to the snarky voice who said it. Of course, it was Feng Min, sitting on one of the trees. 

“Just cause you don’t care about anyone but yourself.” Claudette crossed her arms with a frown. 

“Sorry,y what was that? It’s only the truth. The entity won’t wait for him to recuperate. So why don’t you save your energy and worry about yourself.” 

“Cause, I don’t know, maybe she isn’t a stuck up bitch? I mean damn, you were actively looking for a reason to speak up.” 

Feng glared at Lorenzo and crossed her arms. “Well excuse me for not sugar coating it for you.” She went to turn to face the other way. But was stopped. 

“Well excuse me for noticing that no one from your group has come back yet.” Which was true. David, Bill, and Quentin had not been at the campfire. Only Feng. “Maybe Miss Claudette has a point. You are no lady, maybe a man only looking out for himself.”

Feng scoffed. “You think you are good because you have survived. But mark my words. You will feel pain like no other. And I hope the Entity repeats that same pain over and over.” 

“Oo, I look forward to it. The Devil must not know that... I like that..” Lorenzo smirked as he whispered the last part. Feng huffed and turned in her seat. Her back facing the four. 

“Don’t mind her.” Claudette continued to frown at the girl. Obviously, they had two different ideas about how to live in this Hell. 

“Hmm, ok. But really I am fine Miss Claudette. She will then need to earn my respect.” Lorenzo smiled at her and Dwight. He knew he shouldn’t be talking, after all, he was the new guy. But sometimes instead of kissing peoples ass, Lorenzo wouldn’t show any respect. She would need his help before he needed her.

Lorenzo chuckled, “So who will teach me to heal other people? And Dwight I’ll need you to tell me how to do generators again. I wasn’t listening to the first time.” He busted out laughing at Dwight’s face. It was a look of shock and defeat. He really meant well when he told Lorenzo the first time, only to find out he wasn’t listening. 

Claudette agreed to show Lorenzo how to do it quickly while in the game on Ace, who was bleeding from his back like Lorenzo. Ace had explained he took a hit for Nea as she was running to the exit. Turns out the Myers was able to down him in one hit. But thanks to Jake and a good flashlight he had brought, he was able to get Ace away from Myers and to the exit. 

Lorenzo tried his hardest to focus. Especially when healing was essential to the game The Devil made them play. But he couldn’t help but look around and watch the others interact with each other. Which was sad cause, they didn’t. They all simply sat staring into the fire. Lorenzo felt a tight knot in his stomach. Surely there was something he could do to help these people. 


	4. Proven Yourself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are some mentions of willing sacrifice. Some burns and stuff, third-degree burns. Enjoy

It’s becoming increasingly clear that The Devil had something planned. What it was, that was unclear. It had been a while since Lorenzo had been in a trial. How they had measured that amount of time was by how many matches everyone had been through with Lorenzo not being in a single one. Dwight and Claudette were fine with it. One less thing they had to worry about, aside from him being sent when they were away. But there was a few who felt differently. 

Feng has loudly voiced her opinion, stating that “Everyone else is doing the hard lifting while he is sitting here at the campfire doing basically nothing.” Which wasn’t wrong, but not right either. 

Lorenzo had always been kept awake when the others would come back from a trial injured. Some with minor gashes and then there was the hook wound. That always brought Lorenzo to tears. He agreed it wasn’t fair. He wanted to put in the work just like everyone else. Hell Bill was always out along with Tapp, Ace, and David. They seemed like the oldest of the group. So why couldn’t Lorenzo, a young tenacious man, go and take their place? This wasn’t right. 

Currently, Lorenzo sat on the ground with his back leaned into the log, he held a book in his arms tightly. Currently, he was alone. Everyone was out in a trial. He figured now would be a perfect time to really think and reflect. 

The book he held was called ‘Forever Spoken’. It was a hardback poem book, but one that looked worn. On its pages were notes of the poems. Some were longer than two pages, some hardly filled a fourth of a page. But tucked in the pages were photos. Some good and some bad. The one Lorenzo was currently looking at since it was on the ground, was a photo of his father and brother. Both weren’t smiling, simply staring at the person behind the camera. Lorenzo sighed. They had thought he was weak. Maybe that’s what The Devil thought. 

Lorenzo stared down at the picture. Growing more depressed the longer he looked at it. But he couldn’t stop examining the photo. How it was a bright sunny day, flowers from his own garden behind them. But the primary focus of the photo wasn’t as bright as everything else would suggest. Lorenzo only moved when he heard the familiar sound of the tall grass shuffling from one of the others. He tucked the photo away from view and hurriedly hid the book in his stuff as he got up with a spare medical kit in hand. 

“Of course he’s here doing nothing. As usual.” Lorenzo frowned and sat back down slowly. Afterall,l she was unharmed, and Lorenzo had come to notice that anyone in a trial with her was unlikely to come back the only way he knew. 

“What? Have nothing to say? Have you lost your brain power just lazing around here?” Lorenzo had yet to figure out why she had such a problem with him. It wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t pull his work. It was The Devil. But he remained silent as he crossed his arms staring into the fire. The fire was beautiful. 

“Hm, what is this?” Lorenzo looked over at Feng only to see her bend over and pick up a photo. His heart shrunk as he stood up. It must have slipped out in his haste. 

“Give it back.” He held out his hand. 

“Why? This is so sweet. Look at Lorenzo, with, who is this? A friend? Oh? Are you gay? Is this your boyfriend? Wow.” 

“Give it back!” Lorenzo steps forward and reached for it. 

“Ah, ah, I’m still looking. If you’re not careful, something back could happen to it.” Feng smirked. She glanced toward the fire, and in a blur, tossed the picture into the core of the fire. 

Lorenzo felt as though his legs were glued to the floor. He watched the photo hit the center of the fire. But did not process that by then, the photo was already burnt. He reached for the photo but felt himself fall in the process. He scurried toward the fire, digging through the ashes. Lorenzo didn’t feel tears fall down his face until he had to pull his hands away from the flames. By now, his hands were dry, discolored, and oddly enough, in no pain. They were He sat extremely close to the fire letting himself cry. Again not from the pain of the burn, but for the photo that was no more. 

“Oh calm down, it’ll reappear when you are killed. So why don’t you do us a favor and go get killed? Might help more than what you’re doing now.” Lorenzo didn’t mind her words, or her walking away from the campfire. He stared down at his hands, they were charred around the gaping hole now in his hand. He saw into his hand. It was now only starting to form puss around the charred area. In the center of his hand was a white area that was only wet because of his tears. 

After another moment, he heard the others coming from their trials. Lorenzo stood tiredly and grabbed the medical kit. He hurriedly wrapped his hands with the bandages, and when he was finished he turned around ready to help whoever needed his assistance.   
-

“Thank you, I really appreciate it.” 

“It’s no problem, Quentin. It’s the.. least I could do. Yeah?”

Quentin had a small smile on his face. “I suppose,” Lorenzo said nothing more to the man beside him. He simply took a seat next to him. Everyone else who had escaped been healed up. Now they were waiting for the others to come back. Which Lorenzo was still unsure of how that worked. But he thought better to ask, after all, he had no reason to worry about it. 

He stared down at his bandaged hands. They didn’t hurt like he believed they would. But then again, his nerves were toast, so in order to get his hands again, he had to be sacrificed. That’s what Dwight explained to him when he got there. He saw a hand waving in front of his face and he blinked in small surprise. 

Lorenzo looked up at whoever it was, Claudette was the one who stood in front of him. “Are you listening?”

“Uh.. no?” 

“Well, I asked why you had your hands wrapped?” She gestured to his hands. She was obviously worried. Almost like a mother. 

“Well... I figured when I get called for a trial, I would be prepared to help someone if they needed it. Or if I needed it. Whichever came first.” 

“As much as I appreciate you wanting to be ready, I don’t think you should waste supplies like that. You haven’t been in one for a while and-“ 

“I know. I just figured. Why? Do you need them?” Lorenzo felt terrible talking to her in such a way. It was not how he was raised, and she had done so much for him. 

Claudette looked taken back. “Well, no. I just figured I would ask. Sorry.” She went to turn to walk away, but he grabbed her hand. 

“Wait,” he stood up pulling Claudette behind him, “I would like to.. talk for a moment. Please?” He didn’t wait for her response as he took her away from the campfire. Some asked half-heartedly where they were going, and some didn’t care. Dwight was the only one who actually got up to ask. 

“Is everything ok?” He was concerned. But why wouldn’t he be? After all, he had been watching their little talk before Lorenzo had begun dragging Claudette away. 

“I don’t know. Is everything ok Lorenzo?” They both were looking at Lorenzo with concern, and Lorenzo was looking around them to see how far they were from the campfire. 

“Can we go a little further please?” 

“Not until you tell us why? What is so private that everyone else can’t hear?” Claudette had respected that Lorenzo didn’t want the others to hear them. So she had whispered. 

He didn’t answer as he clasped his hands together. She noticed this and sighed. Claudette took the lead with Lorenzo and Dwight following her. 

Lorenzo watched her make her way in a specific direction that was well away from everyone else. He looked over at Dwight and he seemed to begin to understand as he followed her without even watching. Since he was looking around making sure no one was following. 

In the distance, he saw a small opening. There was y’all grass around it with a few trees spotting around it. There was a small fire that was there. Basically, a smaller version of the campfire they had left, except only about four cut log seats. 

“What is this place? Did the Devil make it?” 

“Alright sit and tell us what it is?” Claudette and Dwight had already taken a seat. Both staring at Lorenzo. 

“Well,” Lorenzo took a seat closest to Claudette and began unwrapping his bandages. She, of course, gasped at the sigh immediately taking them into her own hands. Dwight had stood going off to an area that looked designated for supplies and makeshift blankets. 

“Why would you do this to yourself?!” 

“I didn’t. I had.. fallen.” 

“How do you fall into the fire without burns to everywhere else?” Dwight handed a medical kit and another type of box to Claudette who set to work doing what she could do. 

“Uh.. well that’s what I kinda wanted to talk about. It’s Feng... I don’t understand why she hates me. I was looking through some personal photos before she came back from her trial, I put them away and I guess one fell out... It was really important to me. She tossed it into the fire...” Lorenzo looked down at Claudette who was mixing some dried herbs together in a makeshift mortar bowl. 

“I mean I’m not saying that it isn’t important, but surely it doesn’t mean you had to do this to yourself?” Dwight’s brows were crossed in confusing, trying to understand what significance a piece of paper would have. 

“I know, I know. I can’t explain it. But let’s just say that now I know my fate for the next match I go into. Should it ever come.”

“You don’t need to kill yourself to be healed, Lorenzo. Before you’re sent in, any injuries are completely healed. Didn’t you notice when you went with Ace and them?” 

“It isn’t that Dwight,” Lorenzo sighed, “That picture means so much to me...” 

“Ok. Understood.” Dwight looked off to the side crossing his arms over his knees.

“Look, I’m really sorry about snapping at you guys. You don’t deserve that, especially since you have been nothing but kind to me since I got here. I guess I’m... well... I don’t know. I can’t explain it. I just-“ 

“Lorenzo,” Claudette had placed her hand on his knee, “We understand that you are restless not being able to take off the burden. But it won’t matter either way.” 

“I don’t want y’all to fight these things alone... well.. you know... yall have done something it so long and it’s aggravating knowing that there really is nothing I can do to help. If I keep a good spirit, it’s cause I’ve only been to two trials and came back alive. I have no right to try to make things better. I don’t know what it is to be sacrificed. To die. I have no right to talk.” 

“Well, that’s not technically true.” Lorenzo looked at Dwight with surprise.

“What?” 

“You’ve been to two trials. You have survived. I’ve-We’ve been here the longest. It took us countless trials to understand and survive. I remember the first time each of us survived. It was a big deal and meant much more than living until another trial. It was proof that us fighting back to survive, was relevant. If anything, you have already proven yourself.”

“But that’s different. Y’all didn’t have anyone to-“

“That’s not true either,” Claudette smiled and placed a hand on Dwight’s shoulder, “without him, as much as he puts himself down, we would have never figured out how to do it. He taught us. He lead us like a true leader. It came naturally to him, as it has for you. Don’t sell yourself short. As for Feng, I will talk to-“

“No please don’t. That’s all I need is for her thinking I went crying to Y'all. It really doesn’t bother me, more or less it’s just her tossing my stuff away.” 

Dwight and Claudette looked at each other and nodded. “Alright, we won’t say anything, but if she does anything else. Let us know. Agreed?” 

Lorenzo looked into Claudette’s eyes, she held such a nurturing look. Like she was a mother who had tended to her child’s wounds. Lorenzo smiled. “Agreed.”


	5. Won't Deny His Meal

Lorenzo, Claudette, and Dwight were there at the clearing. It was calming to be away from everyone else’s stoic stares when they were there. They were all chatting about trials and what else Lorenzo would need to know about the killers. After all, there were a lot of killers. 

“That’s good know that there is a Zappy boy.” Lorenzo chuckled as he held himself, his hands tucked under his arms. 

“Yeah, he’s the worst. He laughs at your screams.” Dwight shifted nervously in his seat. “There isn’t a way to hide from him.” 

“I don’t know. I might just be a distraction for everyone. So I’ll take the madness, stalking, or whatever they wanna throw at me.” He laughed before looking off to the side. “But what do you think The Devil wants? Why won’t he send me to a trial?”

“First person we’ve met who wants to be in one. Hmm... I’m not sure. I’ve never seen the entity do this before. Usually, it takes whatever it can get. I-“ 

Just then, a tear appeared beside Claudette. She sighed. “I’ll be back, stay here please?” She got up and walked through the portal thing. Lorenzo sighed. She didn’t deserve to go. 

“So.. Dwight,” Lorenzo watched Dwight jumped out of nervousness after all Lorenzo always had something to ask about Dwight, “What is this place? Claudette just kinda brought me here, and you followed. You know?”

Dwight chuckled. “Yeah, this was where Meg, Claudette, Jake and I originally stayed. It wasn’t until The Entity brought more people that we were moved to a bigger area. At least The Entity takes personal space into consideration. Like, could you imagine everyone, here?” 

“So, is this a private area where you four know about?”

“It was supposed to be.” Both Dwight and Lorenzo turned to face the voice. Which happened to be Jake. Funny, of all this time, this would be the first time Lorenzo heard Jake say more than a one-word sentence. 

“Really? So why would Claudette-“ 

“Well, you were already walking in this direction. No point in purposefully turning around.” Dwight shrugged. “You won’t tell the others?” 

Lorenzo nodded, zipping his lips and placing a hand over his heart. “I promise. But why seclude this area?” 

“It’s just an area for us to come to and be alone. After all, for so long it was just us four.” Dwight shifted in his seat looking around him. “It’s where we keep our stuff. Jakes.. tools, Claudette’s plants.. you know.” 

Lorenzo looked at Dwight, he was obviously hiding something. What was it? They were he by themselves for so long. So did the other survivors come fairly close enough? All at one time? Lorenzo told himself he would ask Dwight later. But left it at that. 

He switched his attention to Jake, who was leaned against an outer tree. He noticed the silent mans glare on him. Lorenzo had spoken with some of the other survivors about their abilities. The other mentioned Jakes inhuman ability to mask his feelings and pain. Which was good for a chase. Lorenzo stared back at the man with curiosity. What was up? 

“So Jake,” 

“Don’t put ever put a hand on Claudette, understood?” 

Oh, now Lorenzo understood. “Yeah. I felt bad about it when she sat me down. I apologized to her.” 

Jake hmphed at Lorenzo. Understanding and accepting that Lorenzo knew. Which wasn’t a bad thing, now Lorenzo knew not to touch Claudette in any way. Unless to help her, but Jake knew Claudette could handle herself better than Lorenzo. 

“Hey guys, so we havin a party?” Behind Jake popped Meg's head. She smiled at the three of them. 

“Welcome to the club Lorenzo, here, I brought these with me cause I didn’t want anyone going through them.” 

“Meg, what did you-“ 

“I simply said I was going to hide these from him, I walked the opposite direction, I know what I’m doing Dwight.” 

Dwight relaxed for a moment and stood. “Sorry, just-“ 

“I know. Anyways, why did you have so much stuff on your person again? I forget.” 

It seemed impossible for anyone to forget anything in this place. After all, there was nothing else to do than to remember things like memories. “I was trying to get home.” 

“No I mean tell us why? Like why not take a plane? You seem like you were hitchhiking. What were you doing? Were you on the run? Where did you live that you felt like you could hitchhike to it? Why-“ 

“Jesus Meg, when Lorenzo feels comfortable with telling us he will. After all, he really doesn’t know you, Jake or I.” 

Lorenzo simply nodded. He really didn’t feel like talking about it. After all, Feng knew a little more than he felt comfortable with. 

After a moment of silence, a groan of pain erupted from Lorenzo’s mouth. He was doubled over like the first time. But when he stood up, he was smiling. Finally. He looked around for the stupid portal, but he realized, he wasn’t at the small camp anymore. 

No, looking around, Lorenzo notice that there was only the ominous fog and the pain he continued to feel. His eyes widened. What was happening? Dwight never told him something like this would happen. This wasn’t a trial. 

He doubled over and soon enough fell to his knees. What was this? He didn’t see anything, he could feel anything but the pain. When he forced himself to listen for something, he noticed a muffled voice. It didn’t sound like it was speaking words, but somehow he understood it. 

He looked around again for the source of the noise. Nothing. Without hearing the words it said, he could understand the muffled voice. 

He was going to be punished. He wasn’t supposed to survive. He wasn't supposed to win. But now, he was going to pay, he was going to suffer. But most of all, he wasn’t going to deny The Devil his meal.


	6. For Now

When was it a good time to panic in this place? 

Usually when it's the first to fifth trial. Those are the experimental trials. Learning all that needs to be learned.

Dwight had gone through countless trials, and he was never panicky. Only when he first arrived. Now he was only nervous about the others getting sacrificed or tortured. But seeing Lorenzo dissipate only made him panic. The Entity had only once taken anyone like that. He knew it wasn’t a good thing. He never saw Alex again. And while he didn’t know Lorenzo like knew Alex, he didn’t want him to disappear. 

Jake didn’t panic, he more or less stared at the spot Lorenzo had been sitting as if he was curious someone was going to sit there. He looked over at Dwight who had by now stood, and noticed him being more paranoid than usual. It didn’t bug him, but he was concerned for Dwight. 

Meg had let out a loud gasp and jogged over to the spot. She waved her hands over it as if there was an invisible person sitting there. She was surprised then in shock. The entity was a cruel God that did whatever it pleased. What if it happened to one of the others? What if it happened to her? 

Dwight was pacing back and forth around the small camp. What could this mean? Alex had been there for so long, why would the Entity take Lorenzo after only subjecting him to a couple trials? He bit his nails. There was something wrong, something the entity was planning to do with them all. What better person to test it on than someone who didn’t have experience with almost all the killers?

He had stopped pacing when he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. It was Meg. 

“Why are you so freaked out? I’m sure he’s fine. Maybe it’s cause he’s way over here?” The way she spoke to Dwight made it seem like she was convincing herself. Maybe it was just a new way the Entity was going to bring them to trials. Dwight knew more than anyone, how much Meg cared for everyone. She didn’t want any more harm to come to them. If she could, she would take the blow. So maybe it would be best to calm her at least. He sighed. 

“Maybe your right. You know me...” Dwight felt Meg's hand pat his shoulder. 

“Yeah, I do. Come on let’s get back to everyone else.” 

“I think I’ll stay here. Jake and you can go if you want.” Typical Dwight, even when he wanted to be alone with his thoughts, he still never forced anyone away. Meg shrugged and began to walk off to the campfire. Maybe she just wanted to make sure everyone was ok. 

Jake, on the other hand, stayed. He had known Dwight since he arrived. He knew the other wasn’t useless or dishonest like some of the others would say. But he did know that Dwight would often lie to get out of, certain, situations. Without saying anything, Jake knew he could get Dwight to spill his worries. After all, Jake had witnessed Dwight panic over what might have happened to Lorenzo. 

Dwight had watched Meg leave, knowing well enough she would want to check on everyone. They were like family after all. A weird, force feed family. But when she was out of sight, he tried to bother himself with something else to do or to look at. He had his pile of parts on what used to be his side of the camp. Mostly rusted gears, old gloves, and worn out batteries. Things for anything they had, but not useful enough to make a drastic difference. 

He already had them sorted by their use, medical, objective, defensive. Then he had it organized by part. Gloves, wraps, and tape. Gears, springs, and pinchers. Lens, handles, batteries. He could always resort to them. But he heard Jakes clothes shuffle to a seat, and sit down. Dwight simply took the seat as far away from Jake as possible, but as close as he could get to his parts. 

Jake didn’t say anything like he knew he wouldn’t. He never had to when he was with Dwight. Dwight always seems to buckle under the pressure of Jakes bored gaze. Especially when he was hiding something. But Jake knew it was to spare the feeling of the girls, back when it was just the four. Even now, Dwight wanted to spare everyone’s feelings. As if it would really help the situation they were in. 

Dwight tried his hardest not to acknowledge Jakes presence, but it was difficult. When it was just the four of them, they got to know each other quickly. They knew each other's quirks, habits, and skills. But even more than that. They knew each other lives. Jake and Dwight seemed unlikely to be close friends. But they were. They had more in common than the girls could say. 

Dwight was socially awkward, Jake could say that he was the same. They were from two different backgrounds, but the same result happened. Two socially awkward men who didn’t find any interest in what was socially required of them. Dwight was fairly happy leading people at his dead-end job, and Jake was happy living alone in the woods fending for himself. But Dwight’s presence did feel better than Megs or even Claudettes. 

So to say the least Jake knew it was only a matter of time. First, Dwight would find something to occupy himself. He’s already done that. Rearranging his already organized things. Then, once he has realized that there isn’t anything to distract him from Jake. He will make an excuse to leave. Just to walk around and think to himself about what he’s trying to hide. 

“Um, I.. I’m going for a walk. I’ll see you later.” Dwight abruptly stood and began walking in the opposite direction of Jake. 

“I’ll come to.” Jake stood calmly and walked over to Dwight, who stopped in his tracks. 

Jake could read any of the survivors like a book. He knew when Ace was getting on Laurie’s nerves. When Bill just about wanted to kill David. Or knowing when Feng was going to be a team player or not. Which was rare he might add. Dwight was no different. Jake knew when something was on Dwight's mind, and he knew what would become of those thoughts if Dwight didn’t talk about them. His performance would dwindle and wouldn’t be able to survive, and contrary to what Dwight might think, there were some who would be upset if he were to constantly be tortured. 

Dwight only began walking again when Jake was next to him. They walked in silence, but there was an obvious tension in the air. Dwight bit at his nails like he usually did and Jake walked beside him in silence. It was close. Whatever it is Dwight knew, he really didn’t want to tell. Jake had only seen Dwight be this tight-lipped when they all first arrived here. He didn’t want to talk about his life or what he thought about the situation. Even though Jake was stubborn and refused to really acknowledge Claudette, Meg, and Dwight, he still came around to them after about fifteen failed trials. Dwight took a longer after that to talk much about himself. Even then, he seemed almost unsure about his life. ‘I had graduated. But I don’t think I went to college. I supposed it seemed like to much work and money.’ Jake hoped this wouldn’t be like back then. 

 

“I’m just worried ok? I promise that there isn’t anything else wrong.” That response took longer than Jake would have wanted, and it wasn’t what he wanted to hear. 

“If you say so,” Jake knew it was wrong to manipulate Dwight after all his father had been the one to teach him how to make people tell him what he wanted. “I just figured you would be more concerned about the people you actually know. My mistake.”

He watched Dwight hesitate. Jake had to stop alongside Dwight, who had his gaze locked onto the ground. “You know I always am. That’s why I try to help everyone.” Jake sighed. No luck. 

“I know... Let’s get back to the fire. I’m cold.” 

“Jake..”

“Hm?”

“You’re wearing like ten layers, you are fine.” 

Relieved the pressure was off of him, for now, Dwight laughed. Dwight watched Jake roll his eyes as he grabbed onto Dwight’s tie and pulled him along to the campfire. 

Dwight followed behind Jake willingly. But in the back of Dwight’s mind, he was still worried about what was coming. For now, he would make sure everyone was alright. If Meg hadn’t told everyone what had happened, maybe it could be played off. Dwight sped up to walk alongside Jake as the campfire came into view. For now, he could act like everything was ok. For now, this life could go on as it had been. Get called to a trial, survive or be sacrificed, and come back to patch the wounds and repeat. For now.


	7. One of Them

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mentions of torture but it is dependent on what you view as note worthy or not. It doesn't go into gruesome detail, but it does talk about it.  
> ()- past conversations or anything in the past  
> •-the entity

(“What do you mean it was too much work? What I would have given to go to college.. star in track.. make my mother proud..” 

“I mean it’s all great if you had a scholarship and talent, but-“ 

“I don’t care! You obviously didn’t care to even try in your life, I did. I might have been, difficult at first but at least I changed for the better! My mother was the only reason I didn’t go, but it was something that I had no control over, and I still wasn’t a lazy settler. I can understand why you would be here, but why me? Why me, why me? Why me?!” )

 

-

“So who’s out in a trial now?” 

“Hm? No one is right now. Claudette just took off, Nea is off somewhere and I think Tapp and David got sacrificed. That or they are taking their time getting here. Why?” Laurie raised a brow at Meg, they were friends yes, but they never talked much. If they did, it was about their success in surviving or their success in teasing the killer. Especially Michael. 

“Oh just wondering. I just didn’t see them so I was making sure they were ok.” 

“What would they need to be ok from?”

“The Entity of course!” Meg smiled nervously, strange for the athlete. Laurie crossed her arms and leaned forward onto her knees. 

“Whatever you say.”

Meg tried not to frown. Maybe she should have thought it through. Instead, she ran all the way back to the campfire in a haste and probably scared the others. Especially since Laurie and herself weren’t that close. Meg placed a hand on Laurie’s shoulder and spoke in a soft, hushed voice, “I only ask, because something startled me in the woods... I dropped off Lorenzo’s stuff and I began hearing it... it was taunting me. I’m sorry if I frightened you.” She felt bad for lying, but then she remembered, the Entity does taunt them a lot. 

Laurie smiled and placed a hand over Megs. “It’s fine. Just say so, we will understand.” That was true, Meg remembered everyone’s first experience hearing the Entity speak to them. It almost always spoke in a calming voice, everyone said they almost felt like everything would be ok. But hearing the voice and listening to its words were two different things. 

Meg recalled collapsing on the ground, curling up with her ears covered. Even though it didn’t help. She heard the calm voice inside her head, picking at her fears. 

•Child.. how long has it been since you have taken a moment to yourself?.. there are so many problems here in this world... are they really that important? •

•When was the last time you thought of your mother... child... she missed you.. she had longed to know her little girl was safe... alive... but she lay in her bed...the breakfast you made her that morning still beside her, rotted and covered in flies and maggots... mold had covered it...•

•Even as she took her last breath, she waited for you.. silly woman... she’s gone child.. she’s gone... she’s gone... she’s gone... she’s gone... she’s gone...•

Meg shook her head as she stood. “Where did Nea-“ Laurie pointed behind her to answer Meg's question. After all, it was basic knowledge that the two were closer than any other two. Despite Meg and Claudette being here to begin with. Meg thanked Laurie and wandered off in that direction. 

Claudette hadn’t walked to far away from the big campfire, after all, she only needed a couple of herbs to help with a wound. It wasn’t terrible, it just hurt. She did manage to patch up some of her wounds in trial, unfortunately, she couldn’t save Tapp or David. Of course, the two were always fighting about who would be the distraction. Who would save everyone. As Nea put it, they were both heroes. But as Nea also put it, if Claudette didn’t start working on generators and stopped running off to heal, block and save them, she would end up in the same boat. So when Tapp was put on the hook and began to struggle, she had to turn a blind eye as David, injured, took Tapp off the hook. The Hillbilly never seemed to care who was on the hook, as long as they got on it. David was sacrificed instantly. Tapp had managed to stall so Nea and Claudette could open the exit gate when they were opened. Claudette ran to Neas gate, wanting to know Tapp was safe, but his screams told her otherwise. It took all she had not to run and block the Hillbilly from hanging him, but Nea grabbed her hand and pulled her outside the gates. “Best be alive, than to die a reckless hero.” It made sense. Especially in this place. But it didn’t hurt less for her. 

She was finished rubbing the mesh of herbs onto her wound and was sucking on some mint leaves to help with some pain. It wasn’t going to take it away fully, but it did help. As she stood up and stretched out, she noticed the boys walking back to camp. She frowned. Didn’t she say to stay at the camp? 

“Jake!” She watched as he instinctively turned to her voice. Dwight stopped beside him and looked at Claudette. He looked hesitantly as if deciding if he should come over to her. But he did follow Jake. 

“Yes? Do you need help with that?” He gestured towards her shoulder, it had now stopped bleeding, but some of the blood had mixed with some of her herbal medicine. 

“No, thank you. But where is Lorenzo? Why did you leave him there alone?” Claudette had noticed the shift in the atmosphere. At least from Dwight. He usually bit at his nails, anytime he was in thought or nervous about something. But he instead he stuffed his hands into his pockets, shifting his gaze to the left and a right of her. As if he was checking around in a trial. 

“What is it?” 

“Dwight?.” 

“I don’t-“ 

“Dwight Fairfield you answer this instant.” Claudette at this point was standing in front of Dwight, arms crossed. She was frowning not really from anger. She was losing patience. After all, they had a new man to look after until he fully understood everything. Claudette wanted to know that Lorenzo was safe, but it seemed there was other news to be said. 

“He disappeared.” 

“What?” 

“He disappeared. As if the Entity erased him from this world. Well, more like he faded into nothing.” Dwight now had pulled his hands from his pockets and began nipping at his fingernails. “He sort of doubled over in pain and poof he was gone. He didn’t walk through a portal or anything. Just gone.”

Claudette was as still as stone. She was in thought. Disappeared? Did the entity take him to a trial by himself? Everyone looked like they were there. Aside from Jake and Meg, but Jake was here. She swallowed, trying to clear her throat. “Well, Meg wasn’t at the Campfire. So maybe-“

“Jake was there the entire time and Meg showed up a little after you left to trial. I’m sorry Claudette. I’m in shock too. I don’t-“

Claudette held up a finger to Dwight, hushing him in an instant. “Maybe he is in a trial by himself. It’s not unheard of to be in one alone.” 

“We can only hope.” 

Claudette sighed as she gestured to the boys to head back to the big campfire. There wasn’t much they could do besides wait. Wait and worry.  
-

It was painful and it hurt like hell. 

Being pushed into traps, for them to snap wherever he had landed. Being skinned alive and watching them take bites out of his freshly peeled skin. Feeling knives pierce through his organs, whether it was one or multiple. Being electrocuted far beyond humanly possible. Begging to be let go as he was strapped down to tables, chairs and hooked onto chains. Even used as target practice while hatchets flew past him, but always eventually hitting him. He wanted so dearly for it to end. But he found himself unable to move, to walk, to run. He eventually settled for taking the pain, as much as he wanted it to end, and began singing a song his mother used to sing to him. 

“You...taught me theahh!courage!..ooffstars before you... left...  
How light..carries ooohn endlessly...  
even...after..death..” 

He let out a blood-curdling scream as he felt himself fall back, with an ugly man hovering over him. His chest was split open, due to the chainsaw. The man lifted it up and began to saw down the fallen man's limbs. His breath becoming short and gurgling, he continued. 

“Wit-short...nEEss of breath....you...  
explained the infinite...  
How rare” ‘and beautiful it is to even exist...’” 

He had slowly lost his voice along with his breath, he thought in his final thoughts the last words. Exactly as his mother sang it. His eyes drifted shut as his body sank into the ground. A pained smile grew slightly on his face. Time for the next hell. 

-

David was actively searching for the killer. Jake could never figure out why he would, but he left the man to do what he wanted. No use telling a bull to not charge at the color red. Jake knew David would search from watching him run about like a fool and because David had stopped to motion if Jake if he had seen them, which he hadn’t. Hand to the eyes and an invisible knife. Nope, he had not seen the killer. 

He heard no chainsaws or even felt the uneasiness of the doctors' presence. He heard no singing of children, humming, popping of the decoys, or screeching, so they are out. It wasn’t the pig or the trapper. Their stuff wasn’t anywhere to be seen. So maybe the Wraith or Micheal they were facing. In the Forest? That was unusual. 

Jake hoped it would be the Wraith. He noticed that out of all the killers, he was one of the easiest to lose and to survive against. More or less because he had to take time to make himself visible again. Jake was working on the hooks, he was dropping one after another. But something was off, one generator had been done in the time it took him to drop four hooks. Where were the other two people? 

Jake bit the inside of his cheek, he had a real nasty habit of not looking at who his team was. He simply felt the pull and didn’t like to delay the trial any more than it needed to be. Jake wondered to the next hook, trying to do a process of elimination. It wasn’t Meg, he would have seen her running around with David. Feng usually got things running quickly, despite her leaving when there was trouble. So not her. 

As Jake stood, he looked around after he had finished the hook he was on. Maybe it was time to do some generators. Just to get things going. Again, no need to delay the trial any more than it had been. He turned around and began walking toward a group of half walls where he knew a generator would be. He heard it clinking and the pistons moving slowly. Painfully slow. There was a totem in play. 

As he rounded the corner, he saw a familiar figure. He nodded toward him, but he didn’t seem to notice. Upon further inspection, his hands were cracked and black, almost like the ashes from the firewood. Jake stepped closer and noticed his face. It was times like these that Jake wished he could speak. But of course, that would be cheating. What had happened to- 

Lorenzo lifted his head, his hair falling to the sides of his face. Jakes' eyes widened and he began to step back. Lorenzo’s face was covered with black spots of what looked to be the cracked surface of firewood. His eyes were sagging down as if he were asleep, but his eyes were glowing a green color. Jake noticed that Lorenzo began to slowly make his way toward him. Was he- 

A lunge at Jake confirmed his question, he managed to evade the strike and began to run. As fast as he could away from Lorenzo, who was one of them now.


	8. Have You Ever?

Claudette had been working on the generators. She wasn’t as fast at it as Feng, at least not without Dwight somewhere close. But she managed to get one done. Her attention was fixing the generators as well as keeping an eye out for the killer and other injured survivors. But there was no sign of anyone with injuries. She thought it was weird but figured someone was keeping the killer extremely busy. Which was fine, at least she could work on the generators. She found it, again, odd that she was the only generator that got finished so far. 

She stood and began to wonder to the next generator, hoping to find someone. As she slid down the muddy hill, she heard the ringing of a bell. It’s the Wraith. She took off running as she began hearing the heartbeat grow louder. It was right behind her. 

She managed to pull down the planks littered around the area on It. She heard it loud growl in protest. Was the Wraith always so verbal? 

Claudette screamed out as the Wraiths weapon came down onto her shoulder. She almost fell forward but pushed herself to move faster. She found herself heading towards the log cabin in the middle of the Red Forest. It was a place she didn’t like to go to so early on in the Trial, but there were ways to lose the killer at the cabin. 

With her mind made up, Claudette began to run around the cabin. A few pallets were enough to lose the killer momentarily. But it was like it developed some new sense. It always kept finding her now matter where she hid. She finally decided that the cabin wasn’t worth the run around anymore. 

Claudette began to run away from the cabin. The was trying to run to some half building, only to feel the blunt weapon crash down onto her. At this, she collapsed. She looked around seeing three figures. Two the usual yellow is tinge, one a shade of green. The green aura was running straight towards her, with the other two taking a less direct path. Who was that? 

-

Jake had managed to outrun and evade Lorenzo’s advances. He hopped through windows and threw down pallets. He almost lost him twice by ducking behind some trees and a mass of bushes. But Lorenzo always doubled back and saw Jake. This had been going on for a while, and Jake was beginning to get impatient. Where was everyone? Why weren’t they doing generators? This wasn't his job at all. Jake honestly wanted to scream in frustration. What the hell were they doing? What the hell happened to make Lorenzo become a killer? Well, that didn’t matter. What mattered, was getting away first. 

Jakes' head snapped towards a scream. Claudette’s scream to be precise. He frowned. Did the Entity give Lorenzo some traps? Still, he was sure he would make Lorenzo pay for this. He wasn’t sure how, but he would. 

He continued to give Lorenzo the runaround since Lorenzo kept finding Jake no matter where he tried to hide. Lorenzo kept trying to smack Jake, but he always ducked and evaded his attempts. Why was he so bad? Not that Jake was complaining, but when he first arrived, the Trapper had easily gotten him and the others down. So why was Lorenzo not getting him down so quickly? 

Another scream made Jakes' head turn towards it. He was confused. Lorenzo was chasing him, what was going on? Jake turned back to look at Lorenzo only to see him stopped and looking in the direction of Claudette. Suddenly, Lorenzo took off towards her. Jake frowned with worry. What was going to happen? He debated getting a generator done, after all, he saw David in the distance attempting to work on one, but it eventually blew up in his face, causing him to get up and look again for the killer. Someone needed to get them done. 

But something told Jake to go to Claudette. It almost pulled him to go and, after a moment of debate, he followed this feeling. It lead him to outside the cabin. Just outside one of the doors. He looked around just to be safe and found that there wasn’t anything there. But he heard her. Jake heard Claudette whimpering in pain. 

He looked around and saw her, the Wraith, and Lorenzo in between a couple of the half buildings. The Wraith held Claudette by her hair, and Lorenzo standing in-front of them. Jake made a move to intervene, for once allowing his emotions get the best of him. 

Lorenzo stepped forward, raising his hand to her face. He looked to be crying. But before Jake could really do anything, Lorenzo’s hand cupped Claudette’s cheek. Almost immediately, Claudette began screaming bloody murder. Her skin began to shimmer away, much like when the Wraith cloaked and uncloaked. But as she disappeared, the shimmers began to fly up into the sky. Where a large black cloud was. 

Since Jake was in the motion, he pushed Lorenzo down onto the ground. At this point, Lorenzo had begun to dissipate as well, just under Jakes weight. Jake frowned as he looked up towards the Wraith. Who already had his weapon raised. Well, hopefully, David would be able to escape. 

-

Dwight was sitting beside Meg and Nea. The two girls were mumbling amongst themselves, it was what they usually did if one or the other wasn’t asleep or in a trial. Dwight had his eyes closed. He wasn’t asleep, more or less in deep thought. Jake, David, and Claudette had been called to trial not too long after they had all settled at the fire. Three people to a match? That would be rough. Dwight took a deep breath to try and calm his nerves. They would be fine, or at least they wouldn’t suffer anything they haven’t before. 

Dwight looked around the campfire trying to keep his mind from wondering what would happen next. Would Laurie or Quentin be subjected to more torture since they are almost always the obsession? Would attempts at altruism be in vain? What was going to change? Out of habit, Dwight began to bite at his nails. 

The others were able to dismiss this behavior as usual Dwight behavior. He was always like this. Always overthinking. Meg knew better than to ignore it, but she did turn a blind eye to it whenever he was in deep thought. He would share his concerns when he felt it was necessary. 

“Have any of you seen Claudette?” The others looked up at Lorenzo, who stood just outside the fire amongst the outline of the trees. He stood there, looking around at everyone, with tired and dull eyes. The trial must have gone wrong. 

“No, but if she was sacrificed, then she should be around before her next trial. Why don’t you come sit with us? You look like you just got the shit beat out of you.” 

Lorenzo looked towards Bill, but then looked down. “I’m fine thanks... I’ll be over here waiting..” with that Lorenzo turned on his heel walking to the nearest tree, leaning against it with his arms crossed, and his back towards everyone. He tried to ignore all the whispers. 

“What happened in the trial I wonder?”

“I bet it was the Doctor, he has a really bad habit of messing with your mind.”

“Yeah? But then what about Claudette? What did he do?” 

“If there is any room to assume, I would say he sacrificed her to save his own skin, look at him. He probably left them all.” Lorenzo shook his head as he slid down the tree trunk. It hurt like hell, but he probably deserved that and more. He brought his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, burying his face into his knees. 

Everyone’s eyes widened at this reaction, after all, they weren’t quiet, and they were sure Lorenzo heard them. Even more so, Feng. His reaction confirmed Feng's thoughts. While they were shocked, they all remembered when they have to leave someone behind. Whether it be because of sacrifice on their behalf, or because they knew they wouldn’t survive if they went for the save. It brought the mood of the camp down as their thoughts lingered on their failure to support each other. Better luck next time. 

While Dwight was brought down by the sudden shift of mood, he was glad Lorenzo was at least safe from whatever the Entity had planned for them. For now at least. Dwight stood and made his way over to Lorenzo, taking a seat next to him. 

“I’m sure Claudette or the others won’t hold it against you if you had to leave. Sometimes killers can be-“

“You wouldn’t understand... or maybe.. you wouldn’t forgive me either...” 

“What do you mean? What did you have to do that none of us probably haven’t done?”

Just before Lorenzo opened his know mouth, a fist collided with his jaw. It certainly left Dwight dumbfounded as he stood up to see Jake on top of Lorenzo beating him.

Jake didn’t know how to feel. After all this time, he was fine not really feeling anything about the whole situation of being stuck in the entity’s realm. Some things just wouldn’t go back to normal, while some things could still make life bearable. Claudette was one of those things for Jake. He really couldn’t say where she went or what happened to her. Sacrificed or lost forever, Jake was still pissed. And someone was going to pay. 

Hearing this commotion lead most of the survivors to wonder over to where Lorenzo and Dwight were, but seeing Jake on top of Lorenzo left them all wondering, what really happened in the trial? It didn’t take to long for Tapp and Bill to wrestle Jake off of Lorenzo. 

“What the hell are you thinking there boy?!” Bill began to scold Jake who was still wrestling in their arms. 

“He deserves it, that son of a-“

“Jake, you’re usually so level-headed about anything that happens in a trial. What happened? Calm down please.” Dwight now regaining his composure stepped in-front of Lorenzo, who was simply laying on the ground. “We can go somewhere more-“ 

“No... please... I do deserve it... I was so close... so close... I couldn’t help it... please...” Lorenzo had acquired a split nose gushing with blood, a bruised right eye that was swelling shut, and a mouth full of blood. 

“No one deserves this son. Not until you are both heard. Let’s get you two separated.” Tapp and Bill lugged Jake away who had stopped struggling but still had a murderous look in his eye. 

“Lorenzo, can you sit up?” Meg asked, placing a hand on his shoulder and another behind his head. He nodded and slowly sat up and leaned back against the tree. Nea was leaned up against the tree looking down at Lorenzo. Ace stood in front of them all along with Quentin. 

“Here, I bought a couple of sponges. Let’s get you cleaned up.” Laurie knelt down and reached to start cleaning Lorenzo’s face, but he lifted a hand and pushed it back towards her gently. 

“Please, I don’t deserve this..”

“Again, what could you have possibly done? We all have had to make sacrifices.” 

Lorenzo curled up into a ball and shook his head. “Have you ever been forced to kill someone?”


	9. Don't Add Wood to the Fire

He was alone again. There wasn't anything the other survivors could say that would make him want to stay. At least, not for now. Not that there were many who wanted him to stay. He needed time to think. He needed time to understand what he could do to stop this from happening again. So with some protest, and little to none from most of the others, he set off to find himself a place he could think. 

He hardly cared if it was comfortable or warm or anywhere near the camp. In fact, he wanted it to be as far from the camp as possible, he wanted it to be cold and the least bit comfortable. Maybe that would get him to think quicker, to come up with a solution. 

The old campfire was off limits. After all, it belonged to Meg, Dwight...Jake and Claudette. First fire for the game. He had no right to stay. Not after what he did. But his stuff was there, he would go retrieve it and leave. He made his way there, his hands in his pockets and his head straight ahead. 

“Hey!” 

He didn’t respond. 

“You know Claudette will be upset knowing you voted yourself off of the island.” 

He still didn’t respond verbally but he did stop. Ace was one of the first people he met. In his first trial and he would have to say him, Claudette, and Dwight were the closest friends he had. He sighed. 

“I’m not voting myself off the island for no reason. I hurt Claud. I killed her. Sacrificed her. I don’t want to face that. You didn’t see the fear in her eyes. You didn’t hear her scream bloody murder. It didn’t help that it got Jake sacrificed. I don’t know who else was there, but I technically killed them too. I’m just as bad as the monsters. I have sinned. I’m just as evil.” 

Ace stood there, arms at his side and his trademark grin. “You didn't choose to kill. I wasn't there, but I'm sure you didn't. But if you feel the need to blame yourself, call it lucky that no one else had to feel that pain of taking someone else’s life. You’re a strong man, don’t let this be the thing to take you down. All we can do is take it one step at a time and figure out how to prevent the others from encountering the same thing.”

He didn’t want to admit that Ace was right. He couldn’t bear the thought of someone else being affected by this. But why would they? According to The Devil, he wouldn’t be denied a meal. He was very upset that the Trapper and Micheal hadn’t produced him a single sacrifice. They must have been his best killers, he figured. One thing he didn’t know is if the duty would be given to other survivors or only to him. Because he simply crumbled away when Jake tackled him down. It wasn’t because of the tackle, it was to ensure that the bing bong bitch served his master. 

“I can’t face everyone without knowing if Claudette is ok, and knowing how to counter this curse. If you want to help, you’re more than welcome to come with me. I can’t stop you.”

Ace shook his head, “I’m a social man. I cannot be alone like you. I’ll talk it over with everyone and see if any of the guys before me know what to do. Ill see what they think and I'll come to tell you. But a question.”

“Yes?”

“Do you know where the Entity would get this idea?” 

“My memories.” 

-

A sudden urge for blood is what blinded her to the pain. An elongated arm, darker than the blackest night, grew from her own arm, but a tendril also produced itself from her arm. She watched her vision turn red, and felt tears falling from her eyes. She reached with her new hand to wipe her tears, seeing a dark shade of blood. It was warm on her hand as well as her cheeks. She craved more. So when a portal appeared before her, she didn’t hesitate to step through it and look around.

The meat plant always smelled like rotten meat and death. Much to gross for her appetite. But maybe it would drive her to find a fresh blood. Assuming they wouldn’t heal each other and get rid of it so she couldn't track it. 

In the back of her mind, she knew this was wrong. She needed to help get everyone out of the trial. Alive. She pushed through her clouded mind and assumed control. She needed to get rid of the totems. Yes. The totems. She looked around. Seeing an aura of a small skeleton around the stairs. She walked around and knelt in front of it. Her new hand would be useful for one thing at least. She raised her hand to smash the skulls to bits, but before she could, she closed her eyes taking a long smell of the air. 

Someone was near. Someone was pumping fresh blood through their veins.

Ba-dump. Ba-Dump. Ba-Dump. 

Someone needed to have their blood shed on the concrete floors. Losing her control, Claudette had raised herself to search for the survivor around the very wall she came around. The chase was in effect, and the Hag watched from a distance at her new pet. It would do well for her. 

-

“I don’t know why you want him here Dwight.” 

“Because regardless of what the Entity made him do, he is still one of us. No one blames each other when the killers play unfair. We shouldn’t blame him!” 

“Dwight, let ‘im go. ‘E ain’t worth our time right now. We need to figure out-” 

Dwight frowned. “How can you say that? Isn’t worth our time, huh?” He turned around walking away from the fire where they were all standing around. Jake and David both stood opposite of Dwight, with everyone else on either side of them. Watching their argument. 

“I think we should just leave him be. Leaving someone behind because the killer is being unfair is one thing. No reason to risk my life. But he actively took Claudette’s life. Right, Jake?” Feng gestured towards Jake, who nodded. 

“He made her fade away. Hell, we don’t even know if she’s coming back.” 

Dwight turned around and walked back towards the fire. “We should be thankful then. I know that sounds bad, but Claudette, as we all know, is kind, warm-hearted, intelligent, and shouldn't be here at all. At least we can rest knowing she’s either back in the world, living her life. Or we can rest knowing she finally died for good. She doesn’t have to feel this pain anymore. That might be what the fading means. I don’t know about you, but wanting her to come back would seem selfish!” 

“You son of a-“ 

“Boys! You need to calm down! I think it’s ok to assume that the Entity is just trying to split us apart. This isn’t ok.” Tapp finally spoke up, being the one in the middle of the two men. “I know it’s hard to accept, but Dwight’s right Jake. It would be wrong of us to want her to come back to do this. But it is negligent of us to assume there isn’t something worse at play Dwight. The only person who would know is the Entity and Lorenzo. So all of you take a seat, and take some time to yourselves. Please.”

Dwight sighed nodding as he stepped back taking a seat on the ground where he usually sat, leaning against the log that was supposed to serve as a seat. David and Jake, though they didn’t see eye to eye, stood there for a moment. Seemingly weighting their options. David wanted to fight it out. Of course. Whether it be with words or fists. After all, What was the point in letting a fight boil in the blood for a while? Jake, on the other hand, was reevaluating his thoughts on the subject. Yes, he wanted Claudette back. After all, she was his rock. But he did realize that maybe she was in a better place. Maybe she was at peace. Not that he really believed in that nonsense. But something was better than nothingness. 

The two followed everyone's example. With Bill and Tapp left standing right next to the fire. “Good workin’ there Tapp.” Bill simply patted Tapp’s shoulder once and turned to take a seat. After a moment of deliberating, so did Tapp. 

“What is with this tense mood?” Ace had managed to walk into the area without being noticed. Which was odd. He noticed that Meg, Nea, and Quentin were gone. “Of course the entity would choose a time like this to do a trial, eh?” 

“Fuck off Ace.” Bill scolded him from across the fire. “No ones in the mood.” 

“Oh?” Ace winked and pointed at Bill with gun fingers, “So please tell me you’re in the mood to have some adult fun.” Bill scowled at Ace and shook his head. 

“Well, it would be best for you all to know that he’s ok. Jeez. You are all taking this situation too seriously. Things will work out in the end.” 

Jake scoffed as he glared at Ace. He was about to open his mouth to say something, but a cough from Tapp made him change his mind. Best not to add more wood to the fire.


	10. Memories

It was silent. Just like that day. The only sounds he could remember, but aren’t present, was the beating of his fathers' hammer into nails in the door frame, and the click of the door as his mother walked out. 

In his memory, Lorenzo remembered waiting by the door for hours. Just waiting for his mother to come home. To come home and tuck him into bed, along with his brother, even though his brother claimed he never wanted to be. It wasn’t until his father made him go to bed that he actually went to his shared room with his brother. 

Allen was already asleep, and from the time on their alarm clock, it read 0320. Surely their mother would be home? 

Lorenzo remembered staying up the entire night. He was so worried. It wasn’t until the alarm clock rang at 0530 that he actually got out of bed. His brother, for some reason, was still in bed. Not waking up. Maybe Lorenzo turned off the alarm too early. But he didn’t care. He got out of bed and realized that no one else was awake. 

His father was always awake. Normally already dressed and on his way to make sure his brother and he were awake. But he wasn’t. His father was in bed. Lorenzo walked out to the living room and saw his mother sitting against the door. 

“Mom!” She barely budged. Her head twitched towards him, but her hair covered her face. “Mom?” She finally lifted a hand to move her chocolate locks from her face, her face was smeared with her makeup. Like she had been crying, or maybe had taken a bath and forgot to take it off? Lorenzo noticed her blue dress was a little wet. Mostly dry, but he was concerned. He stepped forward and stood in front of her. “Mom? Are you ok? Did it rain last night?” She began to growl as she shakily stood. 

She stood only to fall on top of Lorenzo, who instinctively tried to ease her fall. But being so small, he only got crushed. 

Lorenzo’s mother in a snap was clawing at Lorenzo. He held up his hands to stop his mother from scratching his face, but it only made her drag her nails into Lorenzo’s arms. “You fucker! I want my money back! This isn’t what I asked for! You bitch!” Of course, he didn’t know what she was talking about. The only thing he had given her as of late was a crudely framed drawing he made of their family, and she didn’t give him money for it. 

“Mom. Mom? I’m sorry! What did I do?” 

What he remembered and what happened were two different things, he realized when he was older. In his mind, his father and brother didn’t care enough to get up and stop their mom from scratching Lorenzo up. Or at least it took a long time for them to pull her off. 

The reality, he came to realize, was only a second of being scratched up. After that was another second of half-formed fists thrown down onto his body. He remembered only the nails because of how much they freaked him out. 

In his mind, he had done something to make his mother mad. After all, the day before he had thrown a little bit of a fit. He couldn’t remember what it was about, but in his mind, he had done wrong. 

He remembered his father telling his mother to go back to Tim if she was going to act like a fool. Tim is the one who made her like this. After a few years, his father admitted that he thought he could change mother. But he supposed the wildest of bulls couldn’t stay in a cage. 

In his memory, he could smell the smoke of cigarettes on his mothers' clothes when she came to see Allen and him. He could remember his mother asking him to grab her a bottle from the fridge. After all, she knew his father always had some. Just to have one after work and one during dinner. 

He watched the woman he cared about fall apart, believing for a long time it was because of him. After that time, he began to see his mother as a monster. Just like the others who she used to warn him about. A monster who would do nothing but tear apart the great things in life. It wasn’t until he was about to leave high school that she finally died. 

This left him in a depression. 

—

A pain shot through Lorenzo’s chest as he eyes squeezed tightly. But he sat up, awake and in pain. “Mom?” 

There was no response as he opened his eyes. Of course. Just a dream. Well, a nightmare. Remembering more like it. If it was a dream, everything would be ok. If it were a nightmare, things would get more distorted. Lorenzo sighed as he gathered himself into a ball and laid on his side. His head laid on his backpack, with his back against a rather large tree that indented on one side. 

He had stumbled across it after he had his conversation with Ace. He wondered if it was the old man's good luck that made him find somewhere reasonable.

Though he didn’t want to be comfortable, it did remind him of his decision to seclude himself from his... Well... From the other survivors. He didn’t want to think of them as friends, much less family. Not after what he did. But that’s what he was doing now. Trying to figure out a counter to this curse. 

“So, are you ok? Was it a bad dream?” Lorenzo’s eyes widened as he sat back up and looked to his far left. There, sat on a root, was a healthy Claudette. 

Half of Lorenzo lurched forward, wanting to gather the woman in a hug and apologize over and over again. The other half thought better of it. Of course, she would not be ok with it. 

“How did you- why aren’t you with the others?” She only chuckled. 

“You tell me. I- well... I was in a trial and after it was over I came back here.” 

“You aren’t afraid of me? But I did you wrong. That... it wasn’t ok for me to do that. You should go back to the others.” Claudette only half laughed as she ‘ohhed’.

“I’m not going back without you. I can figure that you think this is ok? Just to separate yourself from everyone? Trust me. That won’t be a good idea.” 

“Why?” 

Claudette stood, walking closer to Lorenzo. She kneeled in front of him and wrapped him in a hug. “That’s what the Entity wants. It wants to separate us. To feast more pain and torture from us. If you stay here, it will only be worse.” 

“How do you know?” 

“We’ve been here a long time, people change to rebel against the Entity or they give up entirely, those consequences are what make some survivors have the worst luck. They are targeted far more than the others. I don’t want you to have that burden.” 

Lorenzo didn’t hug her back at all during this exchange. He simply hovered his head over her shoulder and didn’t push her away. It wasn’t like he didn’t want the comfort. But it should be the reverse. He shouldn’t have done it to her. He shook his head. 

“I am burdened by this simple fact, I have done you harm.” 

Claudette pulled away and held Lorenzo by his shoulders. “If it wasn’t you, then it would have been somebody else. Trust me. I’m glad you did it vs someone like Dwight.” 

“But you have had to do it, huh?” At this, Claudette’s comforting nature suddenly turned into a distant one. 

“I have. It wasn’t fun...” she cleared her throat and stood. “But I would rather take this burden than to give it to someone else.” 

Lorenzo looked up at her, she was so brave. So Nobel. For no reason. “I think it’ll happen to everyone if I can’t figure out how to fix it.” 

“Hm? There is no way to fix it. I can tell you that. A way to stray it, maybe, but not to fix it. If you think it’ll just be passed onto everyone, then I’m inclined to believe you. But it would be best for us to tell everyone together with what we do know.” 

“Which is?” 

“Well, when I was placed in the trial, I wanted to kill. That was it. I wanted to see blood and draw it from everyone’s veins. But after a moment of thinking that’s what I really wanted, I thought about what I was really here for. To help everyone to survive. So I found a totem, a hex totem mind you, and I was just about to break it. But the smell and sound of another persons blood drew that other half of me out. I-“ 

“You don’t have to.” 

“I do... I chased them and, well, you know. It was like a voice encouraging me. I knew it was wrong, I tried to stop myself, but I couldn’t. I took her life. The hag held her for me...” At this point, Lorenzo gathered Claudette into a tight hug. 

“You don’t have to go on. I’m sorry.” Claudette did cry. She wept actually. She was great friends with Meg. It was such a shame. 

“We need to go back. I have to apologize. I-“

“Let’s go then.” Lorenzo pulled away from Claudette, he cupped her cheeks and wiped away her tears with his thumbs. “I won’t make you face it alone. So let’s go.” 

Claudette sniffled and nodded. She didn’t have anything else to say, but only kept the gruesome memories in her thoughts. She hated taking Nea’s life in front of Meg. She hated to think of the fate Quinten had faced. So she believed that he had somehow found the hatch. 

As she watched Lorenzo collect his stuff, she felt a phantom-like feeling in her hands. She tried to shew it away, but the feeling of Nea’s eyeballs in her hand terrified her. She let out a small help. When Lorenzo asked her what was wrong, she shook her head. 

Lorenzo knew the feeling. His hand always felt the pressure of Claudette’s cheek. Felt that it wasn’t fair for him to comfort her in the way he did, but it was what she needed. And if he was honest with himself, it helped him. 

So instead of just walking alongside her, he reached over and held her hand. The one she felt these phantoms with. Sure enough, her shaking hand eased into his. Taking his comfort. She knew that at the fire she would get more. The entity had gone too far. But she did worry for Lorenzo. She never asked, but she knew that Jake had something to do with his bruised eye and broken nose.


	11. What is there to do?

“Well, I’ll be damned, welcome back.” 

Claudette smiled as Ace was the first to notice her. She immediately hugged him back when he had hurried over to meet her. 

“Claud!” David had his back to them as they walked into the clearing. His eyes followed Ace as he walked over to Claudette. He stood as well as he placed a hand on her shoulder. His way of saying ‘welcome back’. But Lorenzo didn’t go unnoticed for long. 

“Didn’t I tell you she wouldn’t allow it.” Ace chuckled as he knew her best. 

“You were right. Sorry.” Lorenzo sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. “I just figured it was best to, well, you know.” He smiled at Ace but tried to avoid David’s gaze. 

He’s heard a lot about the other survivors through asking Claudette, Ace, and Dwight. He tried asking the other survivors themselves, but some wouldn’t answer his questions. But he didn’t blame them. He really hadn’t come out with his life story. It would make sense that the others wouldn’t either. 

But David was one of the few survivors that actually explained himself. While Lorenzo didn’t agree with David ’s lifestyle, he did half agree with David’s way of thinking. 

“I might ‘ave done wrong and ‘ave made bad choices, but I wouldn’t ever ‘urt those close to me. In fact, I would probably kill those who decided to ‘urt the ones I care about.” 

Lorenzo wouldn’t lie, he was scared of the large man. David was literally all muscle, and Lorenzo was almost a literal twig. David could snap Lorenzo in half if he wanted, and Lorenzo was sure that’s what David wanted to do. After all, he had killed one of the best members of the survivor group. Granted he had no control, but Lorenzo didn’t know the extent of David’s moral compass. It’s been said that David doesn’t like when other survivors leave him or anyone else behind, regardless of knowing the situation. 

Claudette sensed Lorenzo’s discomfort. She couldn’t speak for David, she knew that much. But what’s to say she couldn’t sway his mind. 

“David?” 

“Yea Claud?” 

“You aren’t angry at Lorenzo, right? You know he didn’t have a choice.” 

Ace had taken his place beside Claudette, who was standing in front of Lorenzo. Lorenzo was indeed scared. He had already gotten his ass beat not too long ago, and he wasn’t really looking to treat more bruises that would be worse than before. 

David, on the other hand, started laughing, “Course I am. He killed you, Claud. I know that he didn’t want to, but doesn’t mean I can’t still be pissed.” He crossed his arms and grinned with half animosity and half amity. “Just don’t be surprised when I beat your ass in the trail.” 

Ace chuckled at his statement. “Of course, now that everything is good and gone. A game of cards anyone?” 

“Claudette!” An excitable Dwight ran his way over to Claudette and engulfed her into a huge hug. “You’re ok!” 

“Yes, you’ll see that I am about as ok as I can be... How was the trial?” It was a grim topic that Claudette did not want to talk about. But given the circumstances, she figured that it was best they knew. ”Was Nea there?” 

Dwight had visibly curled into himself. Something had gone wrong. ”Yes. She was. I suppose it is right to think that ’it’ can happen to any of us?” 

Claudette nodded. ”Only to those who were killed in the previous trial it seems. Lorenzo got me, and I got Nea.” Her face fell, it was visibly grim. ”There has to be a way to face it.” 

\--

The others trials were taking far longer than they should have. But that gave Lorenzo and Claudette time to talk with Dwight, David, and Ace about this grave ability that was given to the killers. 

David, of course, thought it to be unfair and cruel. He hated that the Entity was playing the survivors against each other. Which was not a surprise, but made his job tons harder than what it needed to be. ”I'm supposed to protect everyone from the damn freaks, now from each other? What sort of shite is that?” 

Ace, on the other, accepted this new change. He felt it was long overdue considering the rise of successful trials on the survivors part. The Entity was being starved and like anybody with odds stacked against them, it was willing to do whatever it needed to get back on top. ”We have been through a lot and we have triumphed. Lady luck doesn't give herself to those who worry too much, we can figure out a fix and move on with our life.” 

Dwight was deeply concerned about the effect of killing each other would have on the teams. It was something to be worried about, and Dwight was thinking ten steps ahead of where it could lead. ”I know you didn't hold it against Lorenzo, but Nea could be a different story. Feng is a different story.” At this point, Dwight had begun biting at his nails, ”Its taken forever to get to that point Ace, I hope it won't take that long again.” 

Claudette had stayed silent after her explanation of what she believed. But she didn't add much to the solution rather the process of helping everyone get over. It was hard on all sides. It sucked staring into Lorenzos eyes as he made her dissipate. She had seen what the others or at least Jake had done to Lorenzo when they got back to the fire. Even Lorenzo had decided to leave everyone, so he didn't have to watch their mourning because of something he had done. ”It will be hard, but all wounds can be healed. With time or the right medicine, I'm sure was will find a way to make it better.” 

Lorenzo was keeping an eye out for other survivors. More or less, Jake for obvious reasons. He had already worn himself thinking about what could be done. But in reality, it was futile without him knowing the rules of this world. After all, he heard that the hooks were not the only way survivors could die. He heard there were items that the demons brought that would aid in the killing process. There were even items there to prevent the generators from being completed. He had no right to offer any helpful information, not without knowing the extent of what this world was made of. 

\--

”Yes, just like that.” 

”I've done all I can, can I just get out of here please?” 

”No. You will stay and do all that I tell you to do. After all, you owe it to me. I have done a lot for you. You owe it to me.” 

”For how long though! Had I known that I would have to pay you back like this, I-” 

”Don't raise your voice to me, Boy. If you want to leave, fine. But I can make sure you, never, make your dreams come true. Never, make it in this business. Is that what you want?” 

”... No sir...” 

”Good Boy. Now, back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RIP Davids Accent.


	12. The Woman, The Glitch, The Breeze

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to apologize for my absence. I am sorry, but the usual things have come up in my life. School and work. But now that there is a schedule figured out, I will try to post at least once a week. Thank you for your support. I hope you enjoy.   
> P.S I would love to shout out Ryuk from Death Note, Humans are Interesting.

It was interesting. Very interesting that such a mortal would request such a morbid thing. 

Kill. 

Kill. 

Kill. Yes. 

Your wish is my command. 

H u M A nS Ar E sOO I nT eRe StI nG…

\--

”What else can we do?” 

Everyone but Feng had returned to the campfire. Dwight had called everyone's attention and explained the situation. He explained that it would be best to take being killed with a grain of salt. That no one was to blame for this, and it would be best to try and stay as calm as possible. 

“What we normally do. Try to survive. There isn't much we can do but try to survive and figure out a loophole. There always is one.” 

”You think it'll work?” Tapp spoke up, he was sitting on the cold ground with his back against the tree trunk. ”I'm sorry to say Dwight, but I know people. I know what peoples minds make them do when they're hurt and angry. It'll be, to say the least, difficult to keep ’calm’.” 

”There can be no certainty. But we have to try. In the meantime, if you know of anything that can help, it would be much appreciated.” Tapp nodded at Dwight's statement. In many ways, it was the response of a true leader. In others, it was the response of a true optimist. It would get everyone killed, he thought. 

“First to forgive, first to forget, remember who brought this upon us in the first place.” This was the first time Jake had spoken to anyone since his last trial. He was difficult to read as usual, but around him was a sense of melancholy. He was behind Laurie, leaning against a tree on the outskirts of the fire. 

Dwight dismissed Jakes statement. Not because he could, but because he knew there would be no use to start an argument after he just said everyone should stay calm and together. Besides, he felt the call of a trial upon him. He sighed as he looked around at the people who were getting up. Ace and Lorenzo. He took note that it was only three people going into a trial. Usually, if it was a three-person trial, it was because someone purposefully strayed from the path set by the Entity when walking through the portals. That was not the case here. 

“Here, I want one y’all to use this, I want to try something with Feng and hopefully it works.” 

Ace took a piece of fabric that was tied at the top and tossed it in the fire. Lorenzo had noticed, especially during his time not participating, that sometimes the others would throw stuff into the fire. It would instantly disappear. Quicker than a normal fire would burn things. He simply hmmed at what he saw and walked through the portal. 

——

Lorenzo found himself standing in the very spot he first stood when he came to this horrid place. He looked around and saw Ace with his usual grin, Lorenzo nodded at him as they both went to a nearby generator by a gate. Funny how things work. Lorenzo focused on the clicking of the generator and soon enough it was finished. But Lorenzo was still blinded by the intense light. So he wasn’t surprised when he felt a hand on his shoulder, probably Ace trying to get him to the next generator. Whatever Dwight was trying to do, it would be in vain if they stalled. 

As he rubbed his eyes, he heard a horrifying screeching, What could make such a noise? He wondered. His mind began to make up visions of what it would be. A banshee? He shivered and removed his hands from his eyes. 

When his vision came to, he was met with a horrific sight. Face to face was Feng, her eyes stretched into big black pits with an elongated smile that showed malice. Her hair flowed alongside her face and her nose was close to nonexistent. The strange thing about her, as she was half inside the generator and the other half held her up from face planting. 

She took a swing at Lorenzo, luckily Ace had pulled him away. When Lorenzo had looked back at Feng, she was gone. He pulled against Ace, who let the collar of his shirt go and beckoned for them to hurry to the next generator. Lorenzo was confused, but everything in The Devils world seems to be that way. 

They finally made it to another generator and Lorenzo noticed an arrangement of bones and a skull. He tapped Ace on the shoulder and pointed to it and shrugged. 

‘what is that?’ 

Ace chuckled as best he could. He pounded his fist into his hand.

‘Destroy it.’

Lorenzo nodded. Whatever it was meant bad things. So Lorenzo walked over to it and stomped on it. Immediately it crumbled apart and the skill even rolled around. Lorenzo smiled, whatever would make their lives easier. As he turned around, he felt something strike against his calf. He turned around and saw the bones floating. But they were glitching. One of the long bones floated just above His head. Was this normal? 

Finally, the bones morphed into a white drill that Lorenzo could only guess to be really sharp. He turned to run and instantly felt an intense pain in his shoulder. He placed a hand over his new would and let out a short gasp of pain. Ace, at by this point, noticed the danger and ran. Lorenzo didn’t blame him, he actually wanted Ace to be as safe as he could be. Lorenzo began to run and while looking over his shoulder, he noticed a faint outline of a woman. 

‘Feng…’ 

She was just as glitchy as the totem had been and she was floating above the ground by a couple feet. She was a killer and she was terrifying. 

Lorenzo just ran as he did in his first trial. Surely the same rules applied. So far they did, but her weapon was able to try and snag a hit. But most times it nearly missed him. In the distance, he could hear the generator being brought to life and he could smell blood that wasn’t his own. He saw Dwight running in the distance, his outline, and his actual self, through the corn. Behind him was a blur of white. What was-

Pain erupted on his other shoulder and more blood poured down his back. He screamed again. From his understanding, one more hit and he was down. He couldn’t let that happen. 

He strayed his attention from Dwight and ran to a large tree with dead cows hanging from its branches. He saw a pallet and a window he could try to use. His mind was clouded with the irony of Feng coming after him and him being thankful it wasn’t anyone else but also Dwight. He looked over his shoulder and saw Feng raising making her drill rush forward. He took this opportunity to grab the pallet and duck behind it as it fell. 

The drill had slammed into the wood but Feng simply fazed through the pallet. Lorenzo paled. She reached down and grabbed Lorenzo by his throat and held him up. His feet kicked through her translucent form but held onto her solid arm. He wanted to scream for help, but could only utter groans and short gasps. 

After a moment of doing this, he heard the screeching growing louder. He gazed from the corner of his eye to see another woman. She was floating as well and dressed in an old-fashioned nurses outfit. In her left hand, she looked to be holding fire embers. In her right, she held a surgical saw. She let out a small moan that sounded like exhaustion. But soon enough, she stood straight up and Lorenzo could feel the woman’s gaze on him. Behind him, he heard a generator being completed. But the woman didn’t move to check on it. 

Not wanting to watch the woman confirm his death, he squeezed his eyes shut and dug his nails into Feng's solid arm. He was fine taking this time to die, hopefully, Ace and Dwight would get out safely. 

However, a click caught his attention. He looked at the source and was dropped. 

Feng had her eyes covered as well as the other woman. Lorenzo stumbled when he was dropped, but felt a pair of arms catch him and straighten him to his feet. He wanted so badly to ask what had happened, but he couldn’t. He only heard Aces chuckle and felt Dwight's hand in-between his shoulder blades, pushing him away. 

Lorenzo took notice of a rather nice flashlight in Aces hand and in Dwight's other hand, he saw a simple looking key. What could it be used for? Where did they get these items? 

It was only a moment before the screeching could be heard from the woman. She appeared next to the three of them and Ace pulled Lorenzo away from Dwight, who took the hit. Dwight groaned and began to run away from Ace and Lorenzo. Ace only nodded towards the house and began to run off with Feng on his tail. 

Alone and listening to the horrifying screeching, Lorenzo made his way to the house and climbed the stairs. It was what he assumed Ace meant. When he reached the same generator where he met Dwight, he saw a rough looking medical kit. He smiled and reached for it and tried to clean off the blood began to wrap bandages around his shoulders. It took a long time for him to wrap himself together enough for him to feel alright. 

When he looked out at the field, he saw Dwight running with the woman behind him and Ace was running around the half buildings. Aces scream is what made Lorenzo look at the generator and begin working on it. He had to try and get the two remainder generators finished. They were counting on him to finish the generators. They needed to leave. 

So he kneeled and began to work on the generator. It took a long time, but eventually, he got it finished. He hurried from the house and looked around for another generator. It was then that he heard Dwight’s scream and saw his outline. 

Lorenzo hurried to Dwight, not wanting him to face the same fate he had. That Claudette had. But he saw Dwight’s outline being picked up from the ground. What was the woman doing? 

A second later, Dwight’s scream rang throughout the cornfield. Lorenzo could see Dwight hanging from one of the many hooks in the area. Lorenzo gulped and tried to hide. 

He watched the woman hovering around the area before she took off towards the house. Lorenzo didn’t know what to do. He hid behind one of the many hay bails surrounding the house and more importantly, Dwight. He could hear Dwight groaning from the pain. It was to be expected. What would he really do if he felt a hook piercing his shoulder? Upon further inspection, he saw Dwight’s hand twitching. No, not twitching. 

‘Come here’

Lorenzo hesitated, looking around before actually stepping towards Dwight. Finally, he stood in front of him. He looked at Dwight, uncertain if it was really wise to take him off of the hook. Dwight groaned and nodded. Lorenzo reached up and found the strength he never knew he had. He was able to easily lift Dwight off of the hook and take him off. 

Dwight instantly began to rapidly wrap bandages around himself. Lorenzo looked around for the woman and Feng. Surely they would come back for Dwight. Maybe himself. A hand on Lorenzo's shoulder brought him back to the moment. 

‘Follow me.’

Lorenzo followed Dwight into the corn. He wanted to ask Dwight where they were going. He couldn’t see a generator. They stopped at a metallic square and before he could shoot Dwight a confused glance, the key was shoved into his hand. Dwight pointed at the door as a screech was heard. The woman was near. Lorenzo pushed the key into the obvious hole and the metallic door pushed against him. A breeze pushed against Lorenz’s warm face. It was cooler than a autumns breeze back at home. Before he really could react, Dwight had pushed him in. He was surrounded by darkness, but he could hear the trees swaying in the wind. He curled up not caring how he fell, and let the tears fall from his eyes.


	13. Giggling Freak

Smoke and mirrors are what he was best at. In the casinos and with his life, he was always able to run away and evade those who wanted to hurt him. Which was a lot of people? Seems like the Entity knew this. Around him, he produces a vast amount of smoke. It came from his body, which had turned to almost bone. He reached up to straighten his glasses. Someone was taking a gamble in the basement. His usual smile turned into a sinister smirk. He was willing to wager they would be stuck down there for a while. 

-

“What do you mean?! We could have done something to help him! Why didn’t we hear anything? I saw an aura when you were hooked, why didn’t we see one with him?” 

“I don’t know, that's what we are trying to figure out.” 

Dwight held his head in his hands. He was seated on his usual spot on the logs. Lorenzo wasn’t seated in his usual spot, however, he was standing infant of Dwight with his hands on his hips. 

“I get that, but what are we going to figure out if we weren’t there for him? Feng? Why didn’t you resist? I know it is hard, but I would have guessed you could have done it!”

“Don’t you be pointing any fingers at me, Whatever gets me out of there. It was terrible!” 

Lorenzo didn’t open his mouth to say anything else. He simply sighed and took a seat. “I’m sorry. I just want this to stop. You’re rude and hard to deal with. But you’re no killer. Ace can be a little selfish and self-boasting, but he doesn’t deserve to die and become one of those monsters... none of us do.” 

There was a silence among the four of them there. Tapp was leaned against one of the logs, with his arms crossed he shook his head. Dwight understood what Lorenzo felt, it was hard, especially in the beginning. But he knew he would need to sit down with Lorenzo privately and give him the talk that he had given all the others. Emotion kept them human, and helps divides the killers and survivors. But emotion could get people killed, it could drive them insane. If Dwight was honest with himself, he didn’t want Lorenzo to drive himself mad. Dwight didn’t want Lorenzo to end up like the others.

“I’m going for a walk.” Lorenzo stepped forward, not caring about the direction he walked. He just wanted to be alone. 

First Claud, then Nea, Feng, then Ace. No one deserved this. Everyone should be back home. The home where they were happy, at least, Lorenzo hopped there was a place they all could call home. When he thought about it, he wondered if he actually had a place too. It has been a while since he actually thought about his father and brother. He took a deep inhale and swallowed the swell in this throat that threatened to make him weep. 

“Hey! It is me. How are you holding up?” Dwight was jogging to catch up to Lorenzo. 

“As best I can. Sorry for blowing up there. I know I shouldn’t have done that and-“ 

Dwight chuckled half-heartedly and placed a hand on Lorenzo’s shoulder. “I don’t blame you. It’s ok.” 

“But how can you say that? You and Tapp are composed. Hell, even Feng is, and she is, well... Feng.”

“You haven’t come to terms with being here. That's why. I know that when you came it wasn’t orthodox. Usually, the Entity will send us a sign to let us know that people are coming. Either with a new place to explore or it will start sending people into trials with only three people. You were different and I think the Entity is just trying to cause more pain and suffering. I can tell that it is working, because it hasn’t given you the time, especially trials, to get used to it. To desensitize yourself to it. I know it hurts, but you need to come to terms. You are here until the end time or until we can figure out a way to escape. I’m sorry.” It was a mouthful, but Dwight could remember each time he had to give this little speech. Everyone reacted differently, but the outcome was the same. Everyone felt this sense of righteousness or dread, he gave them the talk, and they got over it. 

Now, Dwight felt the phantom pain of David punching Dwight in the face. Not because he was angry at Dwight, but because it was how David got over it. Tapp simply sighed and nodded, promising to do his best to help, rather than getting in the way. Ace, well, simply smiled. But while Dwight was studying Lorenzo’s face, he noticed how tight his eyes were shut. How much his face twisted. Dwight pulled Lorenzo into his arms. Dwight didn’t know if this is what Lorenzo needed, but he would try. 

Lorenzo didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around Dwight. It relieved them both since Lorenzo let his waterworks go. He wept. His face was pressed against Dwight’s neck since he was taller than him, so all Dwight could hear of Lorenzo’s outbursts were incomprehensible words. Because his voice was strained from holding in the tears and because it was a mix of English and another language that Dwight hadn’t heard in a long time. 

Dwight wasn’t sure how long they had stood like that, but he wasn’t complaining. This was rare, especially when the other survivors were so strong-willed and could take care of themselves. They didn’t care for this kind of comfort. Their speed was more silence. 

After a while, Lorenzo did calm down enough to simply apologize to Dwight. Inside he actually thanked the Devil for leaving Dwight with him. 

“I know it’s hard, but we are all in the same boat. I’m here for you and I’m sure Clad and Ace are as well. Just please come to terms with this so we can all move on.” 

Lorenzo nodded while he rubbed his eyes. They were puffy and red, but they weren’t filled with tears. “I’m sorry. But I think I’m fine to go back.” 

“You don’t have to apologize but alright let’s go.” Dwight began walking in a random direction, choosing to walk around the world. Lorenzo, after rubbing his eyes once more, followed Dwight. “Hey, if you ever need to talk, you know.. about before you came here, you can.” 

Lorenzo sighed. “I don’t know what to talk about. I’ve talk Y'all right before-“ 

“Well, I guess I mean your life. What leads up to that time, you know? Like how did you live? You said you were hitchhiking home, why? What happened? But it’s only if you need to talk about it. I know Feng acts tough, but when she first confided in me, she actually got better.”

“Heh, no kidding? She’s better than before?” 

“Yeah, surprising I know.”

Before they could finish their conversation, Quinten walked to the two, since they were fairly close, and avoided eye contact. “So uh, there are two new people. Um... Nate and Arline? Something like that? Feng told me about them..” He waited for some sort of response and didn’t bother to rush back towards the camp. Dwight did rush back towards the campfire, seeing Feng sitting on her spot, but looking indifferent either way. But when she noticed Dwight walking towards her, she groaned. 

“Oh don’t you come at me.” 

“I just want to know what happened, I promise I won’t say anything, I just want to know who they are.” 

“This better be it, I already told dreamer boy, but its some country white girl named Kate and a Black guy named Adam. They were freaked out, of course, but what am I supposed to do? It won’t help if we all die.” 

Dwight bit his lip, there was a lot that Feng could do, but he had promised not to say anything else. 

“So what's going on?” 

Dwight turned to Lorenzo and Quentin, to inform and correct them, but he was interrupted. 

“Tapp was there anyway, he could have helped them better than I could.”

“Wait, Tapp was with you? With the three of you?”

“Yeah? So?”

“Who was the killer?”

“That stupid Doctor! Gosh I hate his giggle, it was surprising that-“

“Was there anybody else?” 

“Oh, right. Well, Jake was there. Jake chased after Tapp, while that giggling freak got the other two. I'm just glad he never found me.”

“Wait, you really just left the two new people by themselves? Feng, how could you do that? I know you’re all about you, but that is just heartless!” 

“Lorenzo, I really wouldn’t-“ 

“No Dwight, I really should! Why do you continue to let her walk over people? Why do you continue to allow her to let you die?!” 

“Uh, guys, I wouldn’t start this up… everyone's coming back.” Quentin had placed a hand on Lorenzo’s shoulder and turned him in the direction of moving grass. Now wasn’t the time.

“What's going on?” It was Meg and Ace. Following in suit was Claud. 

“We have some new people joining us soon. A Kate and Adam.” Dwight backed away from where he was and over to the incoming survivors. “How was the-?”

“There wasn’t anyone else, it was just the Huntress. She got David.” 

“I’m sure David would be glad to know you all made it.” Dwight smiled at the lot of them and motioned for them to sit. Quentin hadn't made himself comfortable as he would have done. He continued to stare at the direction that the group had walked from. 

”Um... Hello? Can you help us?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yes I know the two survivors came out a while ago, but I didn’t know when I should have brought them here. So yeah. Thanks for reading I’ll try to have the next chapter soon!


	14. The Trial

“That was a great run you gave him Meg, thank you.”

“Aw shucks it was no problem really, after all I had my bestie Claud to help me out when the bastard got me. But really we should thank little Jakey-poo for getting those hooks. He would have had my ass so much sooner.”

Jake smiled, giving the rest of the three a good surprise. It was a cause for a celebration. After Meg and Claudette had made their, ‘wow he can smile’ comments, they resumed their little celebration. With what they could gather, there were old worn flashlight lens filled with simple water from the questionable lake that would appear and disappear every once in a while, and a couple of black acorns that where fun to throw into the fire. Since they would pop like little fire crackers. 

It was the first trial that they all had managed to survive. It was the first trial where no one tried to look out for themselves. It was the first trial that they had lived. In the end, they knew something was askew, since there was a bitter wind that blew. But they still celebrated. Countless trials, and this was their first victory. As survivors, as friends, as a family. 

On the other side, there was Evan, Philip, and Max. They surrounded their fire, with a large tree that towered over them. They spoke to each other, reliving the terror of their punishment. Evan had apologized countless times. He had been complacent and underestimated the survivors. He had failed himself, the Entity, but more important to him, was his friends. Philip didn’t deserve the punishment, and Max didn’t either. They had relayed to him how they were burning wood for the ash, only to be pulled from the campfire by the Entity’s spider legs. The puncture wound still in their legs. 

“ ’s fine Evan, was bound to happen some time or nother.” 

“But it shouldn’t have is what I am saying Max. I messed up, I’m-“ A hand on his shoulder stopped him. He knew it was Philips rough hand that patted Evans shoulder. 

“It is ok. It can’t last forever. You of all people know this. I know you would have preferred it too, but it cannot.” his voice was rough and forced. But spoken with understanding. 

The Entity made changes, for and against its killers and survivors. With these changes, came new killers and survivors. New terrains, new struggles, less family. Dwight missed when it was just Claudette, Meg, Jake, and himself. With each survivor, he felt insignificant. They all came with their own set of, perks, as they referred to. They were so much more helpful and simply better. But with each survivor, he swore to treat them all and lead them the best he could. It was what They would have wanted. 

___

It was the moment before he fell to the window pane. Just the process of falling and feeling heavy while doing it. He felt cold too. Like ice was injected into his very blood stream. When He was waking up, he pulled his coat round his body tighter. Like a blanket. But then he realized. It wasn’t some cold draft that had entered into his bedroom, he opened his eyes to see that he was actually standing in the middle of a building. It was in disarray, with piles of rubbish around on, what he presumed was the top floor. There were large whole in the walls and floors. But it wasn’t what confused him. Where was the train? The person he was trying to save? While looking around he noticed a large machine with a light at the very top, what was this? He placed a hand on it, only to retract it once he felt the gritty, rusted feel of the generator. He looked around as he heard footsteps. The footsteps sounded like they were running. He turned around and he saw a young woman with long strawberry blonde hair, and she looked terrified. She grabbed onto his long coat, shaking him. He opened his mouth to say something, nothing came. 

Fear spread on his face, at this, the woman let him go as she wrapped her hands around her throat and shook her head. He nodded. He simply looked around and noticed there was a barrel with fire wood. He walked over and grabbed a stick that was sticking from the fire, wincing at the hot end. But the other was burnt, perfect to convey what he knew. 

My name is Adam Francis, I don’t know what is going on either. 

The woman read and nodded, taking the stick from Adam. 

I’m Kate. Kate Denson. I think I will stick with you until we find out what’s goi

With that, Kate had screamed. Dropping the make-shift pen, Adam had knelt down to retrieve it, only to see an electric field around the both of them. He screamed. A loud thundering heart beat began as the two looked around trying to figure out what it was. Another set of foot steps began to make their way from beyond the door, Adam grabbed Kates arm and lead her away from where they were. open area. The static had gone. She looked confused, but didn’t question. This man looked like he knew what he was doing, unless he was apart of her disappearance. For now, she would follow this man. 

Adam shoved Kate into a separate hallway, where there was a red locker and a open drop off down from the second floor. Kate looked down it questionably and pressed herself against the opposite wall. Adam presses against the wall on his side and looked around the corner, searching for this unknown presence. It was uneasy. He turned back to Kate and pointed at the locker and covered his eyes. 

Go inside and hide. 

Kate frowned but obliged. She opened the locker and her eyes widened at the hatchets just hanging in the locker. There was a lot of fear, she felt it from Adam and she felt it from unknown source. The locker creaked as she closed the door. When she peaked out the slot, she saw Adam crouched down with a hand over his mouth. It only fueled her fear. 

She covered hers once she realized what it was that Adam was looking at. A humanoid thing, with orange hunk spilling from his head, chest, and body. He had more than two eyes, and his mouth was so deformed. Kate almost screamed had it not been for the thing to start stalking Adam. 

She watched Adam panic and run as far from the thing as he could. He jumped from the two story building. Kate almost weeped. 

The thing followed through and jumped from the building too. Kate sat in the locker, covering her mouth and crying. What hell had she been taken to?

Adam had only read of such monsters in literature. Literature that usually had a meaning and a hero. Once he got over his initial fear, he knew he had to take that thing from the girl he knew as Kate. Because he knew that he would never forgive himself if he left her to be found and killed by that thing. Instead of running towards the beast, jumping seemed like the only plausible option. He was going to lead the thing away and hopefully lose it. Maybe he could find the girl again. Before the thing found her at least. 

But his bright mind forgot one small thing. They were on the second floor. He couldn’t scream, but he was sure he would break both of his legs. Or worse. But when he landed, he only felt his weight on his knees for a second, before he felt ready to run. As he felt this presence growing closer, he did not feel the need to question it. He began to run away as quickly as he could. During this little chase, he heard the sounds of something feral. Growls and Snarls throughout the the surrounding area. He tried to run away from the sounds, while trying to run away from the thing chasing him. 

During the chase, he found himself ducking into a series of ruins that looked like it led to a dead end. He hid himself beside a window he had jumped and covered his mouth from his deep, rapid breaths. He looked to the side and had grabbed a pebble and tossed it as far as he could towards an opposite window. It bounced off, making a small gravel noise. It was enough for the thing to wonder over towards the noise. Adam took this as his chance to run. 

After a moment of crying to herself, and hearing loud heart beats and a loud ring, she exited the locker and walked back to the room where she found Adam. After taking in her surroundings, she noticed a large machine and went over to it. A generator? Why would a place like this need one? While lost in her thought, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Kate turned around ready to strike the thing as best as she could. But when she turned, it was a small asian woman. She sighed in relief. 

The woman didn’t pay much mind as she gestured towards the generator and that was it. Kate followed with a million questions in her head. Kate watched the Asian woman begin fixing the generator. Kate questioned why she would fix it, it obviously was broken beyond repair. She was proven wrong when the generator began to click and clack. The woman glared at Kate and nodded her head to the generator, so Kate obliged. She began to work on the generator, mimicking the other woman motions. Soon, all pistons were beginning to pump. The generator roared to life, brining with it a bright light. Kate looked towards the woman and shrugged her shoulders. 

What do I do now?

It wasn’t what she wanted to ask but it was all she could come up with and quick enough for the other woman to understand and to stay. The woman frowned and gestured for Kate to follow her, so Kate did. But when she heard the loud heartbeat again, she froze. Did Adam get caught by that thing? Was it coming back for her? Kate turned back to the woman only to find that she was long gone. Kate grimaced, worried about what would happen to her. After all, what had happened to Adam?

She was met with an answer when she saw the thing stalking around where she was. Kate was frozen with fear, having no idea what to do. How could she run from such a horrid thing? It was just as tall as a bus, it looked as strong as a wild bull, and it was running right at her. For a second, and not to her own accord, she saw the staircase she staircase she had originally walked up when she found Adam. She ran. She didn’t know why she would. But she did. She ran down the stairs and saw a window not to far off of the ground, highlighted with a green aura. She looked behind her and noticed the thing making its way towards her. Before she could jump the window, she was forced to stop and scream. She scrambled to jump the window, but felt the brute force of the Things weopon striking her. Again she screamed as she hopped the window and landed on the ground with a grunt. She continued to run. 

Adam was wondering around, he still heard a faint heart beat and made sure to avoid it all costs. But he still heard a faint growling. It had concerned him. Had he been sent to a type of hell? One where monsters had existed and lived to chase and kill people? Adam made sure to avoid getting too close to those sounds, those things.   
But something caught his eye. It was an outline of a woman. She had screamed bloody murder. Obvious because form the looks of it, she was hanging from a hook. Adam had noticed them scattered around the area. He watched the woman hang as he heard the heartbeat get closer. He had his behind a rock, beside a large brick wall, and decided to try and throw a rock. It worked once, it should work twice as he thought. The thing had ran off towards the rock being thrown in some ruins. Adam stalked towards the woman, which he realize was Kate, and stood in front of her. Adam noticed a progression of spider limbs. He felt so sorry for her. He reached up and lifted her off of the hook, he didn’t want her on the meat hook any longer. Not with any more nightmare. 

They both ran away, he dragged her where he had hid before and hesitated to touch her shoulder. But he held out a hand, before waving it to the side. 

Are you ok? I am sorry. 

He knew she would be in pain. Adam thought she should be dead. But maybe he was dead. They had both died and went to this sort of hell. Adam took a deep breath and looked around for the thing. The heartbeat was close. It was pounding in his ears. He saw the thing coming to the rock. Adam brought a finger to his lips and motioned down. 

Quiet, get down. 

Adam ran out infant of the Thing and ran away from Kate. In the process, he was struck with the weapon the Thing was holding. He yelled in pain as he lead the Thing from Kate. 

Eventually he met the same fate as Kate. But when he was on the hook, he noticed two people running around in a ‘i am being chased’ fashion. While one was crouched somewhere. Adam was confused, but knew no one was coming to save him. As the spider legs progressed, he grew more and more nervous. What to do? 

He finally deiced to try and get himself off of the hook, it was worth a try. After gripping the rusty hook, he had second thoughts. He should want to end this horror. But after realizing this hell would more than likely repeat, or even get worse, he decided to try and stay as long as he could. No one prospered when they gave up. 

With a tight grip and a pull up, he managed to get himself from the hook. He stumbled for a second before he ran the opposite direction as the Thing. 

When the trial began, Tapp found himself in a familiar setting. The Asylum. He sighed, knowing well he was too old for this. But he pressed forward, looking for a generator. He saw the familiar flickering lights over an area of ruin and ran up towards it. Beginning to fix the generator, working it’s wires and gears like a natural, Tapp became aware of a strange presence. He rose from the generator and began to creep his way around to hide around the corner of the generator. He made sure his breathing was still and his steps were light. Just like his Stake Outs when he was a detective. 

He heard a low growling approach the generator he was at previously. He frowned while rolling his eyes. It must have been the Hag woman from the Swamp. But before he could make his way back to the generator, he stopped and realized one important thing. 

There was no heartbeat. 

He grimaced and listened out for the growling. It wasn’t there. He slowly made his way back to the generator and was about to touch it, but he caught the sight of an animalistic Jake, crouched beside the corner of the ruin. Staring at Tapp. Tapp wasted no time getting a head start on Jake, knowing full well his intentions. 

In the end, Feng was the one who prevailed the rough trial. Managing to escape through the hatch before the Doctor could grab her from the black hole. 

As she fell, Feng felt the familiar phantom of her mother’s hand brush through her hair. Trying to tuck it behind her ear, with the faint voice of, “You will do amazing.” There was a pressure on her shoulder, but it eased up as she fell. It was all she wanted, but never got. 

——

”Um... Hello? Can you help us?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to apologize for taking so long on the chapter. I hope to have the next one out shortly now that Christmas Break is here. Thanks.


	15. Whats to say?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A very short chapter, I am planning a longer chapter for the next one, but here is this one in the meantime.

The two, as everyone had come to know Kate and Adam, approached the fire. Both of them sticking rather close to each other out of fear of this unknown place. Dwight had stepped up and stood in front of them both. 

“Hello, you’re Adam and Kate, right? My name is Dwight. I am sorry you had to go through that without proper help,” a ‘hmph!’ from Feng could be heard.

“Yes. I am Adam Francis.”

“I’m Kate Denson, mind explaining where we are?”

“Well, You are in a different world. I imagine you have gathered that from your experience? Well, this world belongs to the Entity. We suppose it is the God of this world, and from what we have understood it takes people from the real world. He also takes killers from the real world and makes them kill us. To sacrifice us to him. Our job is to simply survive. I know this is unusual and I don’t blame you for not wanting to believe me, but believe everyone here.” 

“Oh, I believe you. I just need to know how much worse it gets?” Dwight was taken back but shook his head. 

“The killers are pretty bad. But all you have to worry about are the generators, the hooks, and the killers being able to kill by their own hand.”

“And us killing each other.” Adam and Kate looked towards the voice who spoke. It was a gruff Asian looking man who stood on the outside of the ring of logs. “What do you mean killing each other? Don’t we have to worry about those things? Why would we kill each other?” Kates' eyes widened with fear as she looked towards Dwight for an answer. She even grabbed a hold of Adams' arm, gripping it tightly in her grasp.

“Well, it is something relatively new. But the Entity has cursed us with a new issue, us turning into helpers for the killers. But when Feng told me about your trial, I think there is a way to avoid it or change it. But like everything here, it is just a theory, so please-“

Everyone turned their heads to a blood-curdling scream, seeing a monstrous man behind Laurie, holding her arm up. He was gazing at her hand while licking his lips. Everyone was frozen, this man was taller than anyone here. He looked older as well but his clown make-up did not help with the wrinkles that littered his face. There was also a woman who stalked through the tall grass that littered around the camp. She was shorter than the man, but her hair floated above her. There was a delay with every movement because she ensued towards Adam. Letting out ghostly moans as she circled Adam and Kate. 

No one really knew what to do, this had never happened before. They had never seen the killers outside their trials. What trickery was the Entity trying to play at? By now everyone aside from Laurie, Kate, and Adam had stood. David and Bill were to two who stepped forward, David putting himself in-between the Ghostly Woman and Bill snatching Laurie away from the clown freak. Neither the Clown Freak or Ghost Lady liked this act, seeing it as aggression than an act of survivor protecting survivor. 

No one said anything. What could they say to a killer that would make them listen? Everyone took in the image of their new tormenters. Even tormented now by this awkward tension that took them all over. But Bill and David glared at the Clown Freak and Ghost Lady, not affected by this tension but ready to act upon it. The only thing that was heard was the Clowns heavy breathing and the Ghostly moans of the Woman. 

But everyone watched when they had noticed two more figures approaching from behind the Clown man and the Ghost lady. It was who the group came to know as the Trapper and another who became known as the Wraith. They both towered over the two new killers. But the Clown and Ghostly woman paid no mind to them. 

“Kenneth, Rin, come.” 

It was indeed strange to find out that they knew how to come here to the fire, it was strange to hear the Trapper speak, and it was strange to know they had human names, but it was also very strange to see that the two, Kenneth and Rin, would stray their glare from David and Bill to look back to the Trapper. Then to follow his order and back away, even if it was followed with a twisted laugh and a vicious snarl. 

As the Wraith led the two back to wherever it was they came from, the Trapper stood firm, with a commanding stare. “Follow us, and I will not hesitate.” As they all had bearly blinked, his weapon had appeared in his hand. Just out of thin air. No one had to say anything for him to turn and stalk after the other three. 

—

It started with the Clown and the Spirit, soon, there were four more things in the distance that would stalk the survivors. When those showed up, another survivor joined. Jeff Johansen. It was New who found him, she was surprised that he wasn’t worked up. In fact, he seemed to be very accepting of this violent environment. But regardless, she tried to lead him away from any potential danger, but something called him to help the person he saw from a distance. They were hanging from a meat hook, and the things he had drawn back home could not be compared to the real thing. It sickened him, but when he helped the scrawny man off of the hook, he was shocked to see a yellow aura surrounding him. Regardless of how hard Nea, Lorenzo, and David tried, he didn’t survive. 

When the initial encounter with the four killers happened, Dwight immediately asked everyone to never wander far and to go with someone else. He asked and most everyone abided this ‘rule’ because they were scared themselves. So no one wondered far from the fire, not without another person with them. The furthest anyone had technically gone was the tree because it was where they had woken up after being killers themselves. They would show up at the campfire winded and paranoid. It caused problems when the Entity decided to grant the group time to take in their new arenas and simply relive the old ones if they were allowed to come to their fire, what would prevent them from hunting during an undeclared trial?


	16. It Started With A Dance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reference to abuse, I don't go into detail, but reference.

“Come on Lorenzo, I promise that he is a great guy!”

“I don’t need my Dad seeing me with anyone, I don’t know why you invited him.” 

“Well, What do you expect? He would have been upset hearing about my wedding and not getting invited. That's what you get for wanting to stay in this small town.” 

“It's not that I want to stay…” 

“Well do what I did then and find you a nice city man! You can leave and accomplish so much! His name is Eric and he lives in Cali just like Reid. We can make a new life there Zo! Come on, at least talk to him?”

Lorenzo shook his head and stood up, careful to not step on his friends' wedding dress. “Fine, I will meet him. But I don’t want to be caught up in anything-“

“There he is with Reid. Reid!” Lilian beckoned her new husband, Reid, to her as she walked across the dance floor with Lorenzo, leading him to the table in the corner where Eric was sitting. Lorenzo simply followed her, but he found himself getting nervous. This Eric was quite the character. Very different from the men here in this town. Eric had green hazel eyes, they glowed in this dark party room. Most men in this town had dull brown eyes. Eric wore a clean cut suit that brought out his built body, one he obviously worked for. Most men at the wedding wore nice blue Levi jeans and button-up plaid shirts that were tucked into their jeans. Eric had beautiful sun-kissed skin, while the men in this town were a few clicks away from being burnt from the suns harmful rays. 

Lorenzo put on a hesitant smile, finally coming to a short realization. Eric was Lorenzo's way out of here, at least an excuse, and he was willing to do anything to follow Eric wherever he went. 

“Hey baby,” Lilian leaned over to give Reid a quick peck on the lips, “Why don’t you introduce Eric to Lorenzo?”

“Well, why don’t we go do our dance, and leave these two alone?”

Reid smiled as he stood and took Lilian’s hand into his own and made his way onto the dance floor, where everyone cleared and the DJ began to announce the ‘happy couple’. 

Lorenzo felt awkward being around Eric alone. A stranger. He was someone he shouldn’t be talking to or even attempting to talk too. But Lorenzo held out a hand and smiled. “Nice to meet you, I am Lorenzo.” 

Eric had smiled and stood to meet Lorenzo's eyes. “The pleasure is all mine, My name is Eric Wright.” 

The song playing had slowed to a halt as Lorenzo stared into Eric's eyes. His senses had gone into overload as he caught the scent of mint citrus and cigarette smoke. It made Lorenzo's knees weak as he thought about the oil and metallic smell he always endured back at his fathers auto shop and the smell of leather and sweat from the ranchers and farmers that lived nearby, not to mention the dip they always spat onto the ground. The firm grasp that Eric shook Lorenzo's hand with, different from the rigid grip most men around would give each other. Like they were proving who was stronger than the other. Eric's honeyed voice was almost arousing to Lorenzo, a distinct accent that screamed foreign from this area. Eric as a whole, reminded Lorenzo of everything he wanted to be, everything he wanted to try and be a part of rather than being here in this little town he had called home. 

“Lorenzo?” 

“Huh?” Lorenzo blinked as he was pulled from these thoughts and feelings. 

Eric chalked up a half smile as he let out a short laugh. “I was asking if you would like to dance?” 

By this point, Lorenzo had noticed the song had changed from Lilian and Reids song to one of his personal artists. Despite it being a little more sexual than what he knew his father would approve of, he still loved it. Lilian surly requester this song for him. 

“I don’t know if that would be a good idea.” Lorenzo took a quick glance around the room for his father, who sat with Allen at a table. 

“Oh? Is there someone else you’re promised to?” Eric smiled, “I understand, I wouldn’t want to cause any trouble.”

“It isn’t that actually... It’s my father.” Lorenzo looked away ashamed that he was 19 years old and still feared his father like a 7-year-old. 

“Would you like to dance outside then? I don’t mind the privacy. It just means we both can let loose our moves. Lilian told me you are quite the dancer.”

Lorenzo has mentally cursed Lilian. She really was trying to set him up. But he had a slight chuckle thinking about how much planning this must have been. All those times he stayed over at her house and how late they would stay up dancing and singing to different genres of music. 

“I think that would be fine.” 

Eric held out a hand for Lorenzo to take, wanting to lead him onto their ‘dance floor’ that was outside. There were only a few kids outside, wondering about the grassy ditches scattered around the building. As they stood a few feet from the door, Lorenzo wasn’t quite sure what to do. Sure he had practiced with Lilian, but to have a dance partner like this, Lorenzo was scared. What if he did something wrong? Stepped on Eric's foot? Fell over from losing balance? What if someone saw? What is Lorenzo got punished? 

Fears began to wash away as an immense warmth began to wash over him. Lorenzo grasped Eric's hand as Lorenzo laid his other hand over Eric's shoulder. It felt like instinct. They waited for a moment before simultaneously taking the first step. They both moved in sync. Taking each step along to the music together, their hips popping and swaying as the music swelled and calmed. But when the song ended, another personal favorite song of Lorenzo’s came on. They continued to dance. As the songs passed from slow and sensual to a fast and sexual.

Before they both knew it, Lilian had called out to Lorenzo as a warning his father was coming for a smoke. As the two parted, Lorenzo could swear he felt Eric pull him closer. Only for a second. As they pulled away, Lorenzo's father had walked out the door and lit up a cigarette. But he ignored the two as he kept to himself. 

“Would you like to go for a walk?”

Lorenzo felt like the lead in a romantic movie, one where they would be saved and lived happily ever after. But right now, it was the build up. To him, he really felt like he could fall in love and just maybe Eric would too. “Sure that would be nice. I could show you around town.” But as always there was something keeping the story from moving smoothly.

“I would think not, this is your friends' wedding. You’ve stood up in it and you will stay to help her. Whoever this stranger is, he can figure his own way around.” 

Lorenzo looked down, sighed, and turned to Eric. “Sorry, but I am preoccupied with Lilian's wedding. Maybe another time when I have nothing else to do.” It was an automatic response. Very robotic and repeated. There was always something. 

“No problem, I don’t mind waiting. I’ll help anywhere I can.” 

Lorenzo's father stared at Eric and shook his head. “That's all you. But my boy isn’t going off anywhere when he made a promise to be here to help.”

“I completely understand. Well I think I will go back inside, are you coming back Lorenzo?”

———

Lorenzo found out that Eric was staying to help his friend and Lilian gather her stuff so she could move to Los Angeles. It would take a couple of weeks, and Lorenzo quickly volunteered to help. Hoping his father would relieve him from the car shop so he could.

“You’re already scheduled, I can’t have you gone for a couple of weeks.”

“Please, Dad? This is the last time I can see Lilian and I want to make most of this final time. I know we can talk over the phone, but please. I don’t think she will come back to visit anytime ever.” 

Lorenzo's father frowned. “I am going to have to pay someone else time for covering you.”

“Why not ask Allen to help you? He isn’t going back to school until fall.”

“Because he needs to study, would be the same for you but you aren’t willing to go back to school.”

“That's beside the point, I will work Kyles time after I am finished weeks and you can pay me half. Please, I just want to help Lilian and spend time with her before she leaves.” 

With an annoyed sigh, Lorenzo's father waved off Lorenzo. It was his way of saying, ‘Fine but you had better keep your promise.” Before Lorenzo's father walked away, he placed a hand on Lorenzo's shoulder, “I am telling you this now, do not get too comfy with that Eric or Reid or even Lilian. You’re there to help and that’s it. Don’t let them fill your head with any kind of nonsense.” With that, he turned and left back into the car shop. 

———

During the weeks of packing up Lilian's things, Lorenzo did exactly what his father had told him not to do. He got comfortable with Reid and his toasty humor. Lorenzo got comfortable with Eric and how he would tousle Lorenzo’s hair. Lilian had even encouraged Lorenzo to get to know his ’not-real-brother-brother-in-law’ as she called it. She even insisted he gets to know Eric a bit more. As hours turned into days, and the days finally to weeks, Lorenzo could recall everything in detail about Reid and Eric. They were best friends, just like Lilian and himself. Only they both grew up in Los Angeles and went to school together from elementary to university. They both adored the media in every fashion. Reid was a director to small-time movies. Mostly because he was still young to this game. Eric, on the other hand, had decided to work with audio and was slowly making a name for himself amongst record labels and beginner artists. He truly had talent. 

It was the last day before Lilian, Reid, and Eric would fly back to LA. Eric and Lorenzo had decided to relax in Lilian's backyard while Lilian and Reid were inside wrapping up the final box of her things and making their last meal here. The two outside had laid out on the soft grass after a long day of work, talking more about random things. At one point, Lorenzo mentioned that he would love to go to college, Eric responded making sure to emphasis where Reid and himself had gone was one of the best schools to attend. At least in California.

“I don’t know what I want to do. My father told me he would pay for my tuition for a community college a town over but he wants me to study proper business. I don’t want that. He pays for my bother to get started in criminal studies. But I guess its because a degree and experience in law will help the shop should something happen. It's not fair, Allen gets the option, but I don’t.”

“Well, there is financial aid and scholarships provided for any school. You don’t have to rely on your dad.”

“But he expects me to take over his shop whenever the time comes that… well… you know… How could I leave him to stress? He has taken care of me all my life. Even when my mom had to leave.”

“Lorenzo, it is your life. You really don’t have to stay here.” Lorenzo had been keeping his eyes on the sky. Not really studying it since it was the same. Since he was ten and when he was born. He finally turned his head to Eric, a bit surprised that Eric was looking back, and sighed. 

“I am afraid.” There was a moment of silence as Eric thought over his response. Lorenzo bit his cheek nervously and looked back to the sky. “I know it sounds dumb, but I am. What else can I do? I owe it to my father for taking care of me all these years. I can’t just abandon him when he needs me. I mean I’ve never-“

He didn’t hear Eric sit up, he didn’t even notice Eric leaning over him. But he did stop when he felt Eric's hand laying across his cheek. 

“Remember your dreams are yours and you need to fight for them. You must know what you want from life. Seems like you have an idea,” Eric paused before continuing. “There is just one thing that makes your dream become impossible and it is fear. I know you hold your traditional values. But to be happy, you need to make your own choices.” Eric hesitated before leaning down and placing his forehead against Lorenzo. “I just know you could do so much more.”

‘Take me with you… Let me go with you..’ Is what Lorenzo wanted to say. He only hesitantly raised an arm and cupped Eric's cheek just like Eric was doing to him. 

“Come with us, I am almost positive that Reid and Lilian wouldn’t mind you hitching a flight with us. And I would be more than willing to host a room for you.” 

“I didn’t say that out loud did I?” Erics laugh pierced through Lorenzo's skin as he turned red and retracted his hand to cover his face. 

“I suppose I should take that as a yes then?” Lorenzo took a second to think about whether or not it was something he really wanted to do. Was he really willing to leave his father? Did he really even know what he wanted to do? 

After taking a moment to think about it, he decided. 

Lorenzo nodded as removed his hands from his face and looked up at Eric. This was something Lorenzo would do for himself, and regardless of his fear, he would do it with Lilian, Reids, and Erics help. Eric even said he would help Lorenzo through this process. Eric said he would house Lorenzo. Eric would help Lorenzo through this process. 

Everything will be ok. 

——

 

There would never be a good time to tell his father that he decided to go leave and do something else with his life. Lorenzo didn’t plan it to be easy and it wasn’t. To say the least, there was a lot of screaming and objects thrown. Obscenities and close calls. He was always scared of his father, as a kid into his teen years and into his early adulthood. Right now he was absolutely terrified. Had he know when he was younger that there was nothing to fear from the scoldings he received, he probably wouldn’t let his father believe he could scare Lorenzo into doing whatever he wanted. But Lorenzo knew that his father didn’t do it intentionally, it was only Lorenzo overbearing and irrational fear. 

So when all was said and done, Lorenzo was only allowed to leave with the clothes on his back and the money in his account. It was fine though. It was all he really needed. Lilian supported him one hundred percent, knowing full well that this transition would be good for Lorenzo. Reid was relieved to know that Lilian wouldn’t move across the country only to be alone. Eric was humbled that Lorenzo would trust him so completely. 

So when they drove in the small rental car to the city to catch their flight, there wasn’t much luggage. Everything has already been sent a day earlier. There were only two bags full of clothes from both Lilian and Reid another from Eric. Soon enough they were off to California. 

—

 

”Yes, just like that.” 

It was early into the morning, about two in the morning. A couple of years since he moved to LA to the day and he was still here. ”I’ve done all I can, can I just get out of here please?” 

”No.” When Lorenzo first came, he dedicated all his energy to try to repay his debt. Cleaning, cooking, even getting a part-time job at a mechanics shop. Eric only told Lorenzo no when he tried to do so much. But now, “You will stay and do all that I tell you to do. After all, you owe it to me. I have done a lot for you. You owe it to me.” After graduating with only an associate, things changed. 

”For how long though?” He didn’t mean to stay this long, he only wanted to get started. To learn, start a better life, and pay back his debt. He wanted to live a life after his previous struggle. And maybe he could have lived a life with Eric. One full of love and one they both would be proud of, but that is a fairy tale a boy had come up with. “Had I known that t I would have to pay you back like this, I-” 

”Don't raise your voice to me, Boy.” Boy. Just like his father used to call him. He was a boy, he had no understanding of this world. He was idealistic, trusting, and naive. He chased a dream “If you want to leave, fine. But I can make sure you, never, make your dreams come true. Never, make it in this business. Is that what you want?” Eric had influence in this community, he could do it. Lorenzo wanted so badly to do something else with his life. 

What else could he do? ”… No sir...” 

”Good Boy. Now, back to work. 

——

 

When he told his friend Lilian, she was outraged. The abuse, for only a couple months but was, in reality, was back to the Wedding. The electricity Lorenzo felt during their dance, so convincing but now, after some research, he realized it to be manipulation. Trading a life of solitude and peace for this, whatever it might be. Lilian wanted to help but Lorenzo refused her help. He knew that if she helped it would cause problems for her and Reid. They were in love, that was something Lorenzo had always wanted. And he wouldn’t want to get in the way of true happiness.

When he decided to try and run away, he waited until Eric was away at work. Lorenzo woke up first, as always, and began to make some sort of breakfast for Eric. Egg whites with turkey bacon, a little crispy, a croissant with a light coating of cinnamon butter, and a glass of water and orange juice with a little pulp. So different from the comforting food he was once used to. Eric woke up and came down to eat breakfast while Lorenzo only ate his usual orange. Simple so he could excuse himself to get the shower ready for Eric. Where more than cleaning would occur and only after would Lorenzo be allowed to wash. 

When Eric left that morning, Lorenzo stood by the door for an hour to make sure Eric was gone for good. He had to leave when Eric would be at work, otherwise, Lorenzo would be talked back into staying. Because he couldn’t make it in such a big city, at least that’s what Eric said and it was what Lorenzo began to believe.

He stepped out the door, leaving the majority of his items in the room he had hidden in most days. The only things he took were hygiene products, changes of clothes and a change of shoes. It was all he needed. It was a quiet and seamless escape from a prison he didn’t want to acknowledge he was in. Relief flooded his mind as he began to walk towards the train system that would take him out of there. He would go home and apologize and everything would be fine. 

But it wasn’t until he was able to call his brother that he found out about his father. Two weeks he had managed to hitchhike. He was finally in Texas and so close. He wanted to see his father and apologize. To tell his father he did love him and wanted to help him through this difficult time. Until he passed on. He was so close. So, so close. 

——

No one was in a trial at this time. Everyone was stoic. Staring into the fire or just beside it. The group called The Legion, as told by Jeff, standing at a distance. They were laughing at the survivors. Throwing sticks and stones at them all. Ever since their tormentors visited their fire, it has always been like this. Lorenzo hated it, but he wouldn’t disobey his ‘elders’ as he put it. After all, last time he did, he endured two years of nothing but pain. 

“Hey, Glasses~!” 

A rock came hurdling and bearly missed Dwight. He flinched away from it and had bumped Lorenzo on his shoulder. Lorenzo had sat on the ground, his knees pulled to his chest. He watched from the corner of his eye as Dwight settled back into place, as Bill sat straight up with his arms crossed, as Claudette eyed around the fire wishing she could do something. But The Legion continued their assault. Lorenzo simply watched as his friends we hit with rocks and called such horrible names. Even himself. 

Only did Lorenzo stand up and stare at the group of rambunctious teens when another rock came flying at Dwight. It knocked off his glasses and cut into his forehead. Lorenzo frowned as he picked up Dwight glasses. Lorenzo handed Dwight his glasses. 

“Thank you..” Dwight's voice was weak and not motivating, but Lorenzo didn’t blame him. 

“No prob-“ A small snivel make Lorenzo look up. Beside Claudette laid a filthy blade, caked in rust and old blood. Her shoulder bled profusely as Jake hurried to patch her up best he could. Lorenzo felt his blood broil past the point of no return. He reached down and grabbed the rock that hit Dwight and began to stride towards the edge of the clearing and hurled the rock back at the four kids. It hardly did anything, but it made them stop laughing. He stood beside Claudette and he picked up the blade, holding it tightly as he began to scream at the teens. 

“Fuck off you assholes! Fuck you and Fuck your Devil.” He continued with a slur of insults. Some not so elaborate and some that got his point across. He was tired, he lived through this in life, and he wasn’t going to deal with it in this Hell. 

It certainly gave the punks a reason to creep towards the group. The leader, everyone knew as Frank based on listening to the Legions conversations raised a hand and beckoned the rest to follow. They didn’t rush, they knew what they were doing, and they certainly kept an uneasy watch on Lorenzo. 

“Good going, now we are all going to die.” Feng rolled her eyes as she stayed seated. So did everyone else, but they sat straight up, curious about the outcome. Would this be their end? 

“For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places,” Lorenzo erupted in prayer, one he knew from his time at church every Sunday morning with his Father, Brother, and Mother, “Therefore, put on every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time of evil. Then after the battle, you will still be standing firm,

“Stand your ground, putting on the belt of truth and the body armor of God's righteousness.  
For shoes, put on the peace that comes from the Good News so that you will be fully prepared.  
In addition to all of these, hold up the shield of faith to stop the fiery arrows of the devil.  
Put on salvation as your helmet, and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God,” He was afraid, but in this Hell, he would not be held captive like this anymore. He would pay his debt as it should be paid. He would have freedom, some freedom. He missed the times before he killed, it wasn’t an option anymore. But he would not watch everyone he cared about to be tortured like this. 

“Let's dance pal,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I have been gone for like two months. School ya know? Also here is advice to you youngsters who are about to go to college, spread out your major classes, mix with the basics so you don't have all kinds of labs and stuff. 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed and I will try to get the next chapter out! thank you!


End file.
